Antimicrobial activity of Pullulan film incorporated with Artemisia sieberi essential oil

Background & Objective: A large number of non-recyclable packaging materials, which are harmful for the health of consumers, are produced all over the world. The Suggested solution is using films and coatings which are biodegradable in nature. Pullulan is a biopolymer that is produced by Aureobasidium pullulans and used in order to produce edible films. These edible films could contain antioxidant and antimicrobial agents. The primary aim of this study is to produce edible blended films that form pullulan whit Artemisia sieberi essential oil and the secondary goal is to investigate the antimicrobial attributes of the obtained film. Materials and Methods: The Essential oil of Artemisia sieberi was added to the solution of pullulan films in seven concentrations. Then, the antimicrobial attributes were determined with the dick diffusion method. Finally, minimal inhibitory concentration was calculated for each microbe. The SAS program (Version 9.1) was used for the completely randomized design of data analyses. Results: It is possible to produce pullulan film containing Artemisia sieberi essential oil. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus had maximum and minimum resistance towards the antimicrobial attributes of Artemisia sieberi essential oil, respectively. MIC of Artemisia sieberi essential oil against Staphylococcus aureus, Lactobacillus plantarum and Escherichia coli were respectively obtained at 15%, 10% and 15%. Conclusion: Due to the possibility of the production of biodegradable films with the addition of natural antimicrobial agents such as essential oils it can be concluded that it is appropriate to use these materials in order to decrease microbial load and increase the shelf life of foods.