Natural additives with antimicrobial and antioxidant activities are of interest for many researchers. In particular, essential oils (EOs) extracted from plants, could
be used as natural additives in food packaging applications because of their biological properties. Among these plants, particular attention should be devoted to Satureja
capitata, an aromatic plant of the Lamiaceae family, commonly named “Thymbra”.

In this study, two different Thymbra leaf samples from Nablus city (TEO1) and Qabatiya town in Palestine (TEO2) were collected. Thymbra essential oil (TEO) has
been extracted, characterized, and then used to produce bioactive whey protein (WP)-based materials. Following TEO extraction, different components have been
identified using GC-MS. The major identified volatile compounds in TEO1 were γ-terpinene, carvacol, and p-cymene with the following percentages: 38.9%, 22.9%,
and 19.5%, respectively. As far as TEO2 the carvacol percentage was in the same range as that found in TEO1, whereas γ-terpinene content was higher, being present
with a percentage of 57.8% and no p-cymene was detected. TEO antimicrobial activities were investigated against the following microorganisms: Staphylococcus
aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecium, Klebsiella, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Proteus vulgaris. In the
two TEOs, revealed powerful antimicrobial activity against both gram positive and gram-negative bacteria. More in detail, TEO1 showed stronger inhibition effect than
TEO2 against all the studied microorganisms. After characterization, TEO1 was added to WP containing film-forming solutions (FFSs) at different concentrations (0.1,
0.4 and 0.8%, v/v of FFS) to produce bioactive films. The TEO1-derived films, shown to possess improved mechanical properties, exhibited decreased moisture
content and marked antimicrobial property when tested against gram-positive and negative bacteria such as Salmonella enteriditis, Staphylococcus aureus and
Salmonella typhimurium. Therefore, TEO1 may represent an effective bioactive additive of protein-based materials to be used in food packaging against specific
spoilage bacterial strains.

عنوان المؤتمر

7th CUCS Conference Naples 2022 UNIVERSITY COOPERATION IN THE NEW CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTAt: Napoli, Italy

دولة المؤتمر

فلسطين

تاريخ المؤتمر

21 إبريل، 2022 - 23 إبريل، 2022

راعي المؤتمر

University of Naples Federico II (www.unina.it) and the University of Naples “L’Orientale” (www.unior.it).