Curcumin- and quercetin-functionalized polypropylene membranes as active food packaging material

A wide range of active agents, synthetic and natural agents such as essential oils, chitosan and polyphneols consisting of curcumin, gallic acid, anthocyanins, and catechins have been used in order to develop antimicrobial packaging systems, and among them, natural polyphenolic compounds, specially curcumin (Cur) has great potential due to effective biological activities in developing food packaging material. Quercetin (Quer) is also the mostly studied flavonol as a color-changing indicator in the food industry and has been already developed as a realistic alternative for smart and active food packaging. The reason for choosing these two polyphenolic compounds is that they simultaneously possess many beneficial properties such as antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, antitumoral, and anti-inflammatory effects. Additionally, the main objective of the study is to combine polypropylene (PP), which is the most preferred and cost-effective polymer in the packaging industry, with these active ingredients, rather than using more expensive polymer types. In this context, PP-Quer or PP-Cur membranes, which are new experiences based on these literatures were chemically characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the surface morphology of these composite membranes was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The antibacterial response against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria species was investigated. Furthermore, the reactive oxygen species generation and anticancer activity of these composite membranes using human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29) were observed. We proposed that PP-Quer or PP-Cur composite membranes can be a potential candidate as active packaging material in the food industry.