Prolonging the effectiveness of antibacterial action in the protection of food by means of natural bioactive compounds, encapsulated in molecular structures and released under control – "delivery" – is a promising field for the food industry. It serves to improve food security, the nutritional quality of products and their level of health. All of them, key factors in the so-called "green consumerism".

The paper, recently published in the American Chemical Society's journal Applied Materials & Interfaces, presents the development of an 'intelligent' material, based on a metal-organic polymer (MOF– that houses essential oil molecules and which, by releasing them in a single, promotes prolonged antibacterial activity.

The system was tested against two bacteria – Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua – responsible for some food poisoning in consumers. As described in the article, the material used for this type of delivery is MIL-100(Fe) and the active natural molecule is carvacrol, present in the essence of oregano and thyme. Led by the Crystal Engineering Laboratory (CEL) of ICMol, the work counts on the collaboration of the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC) and University of Lisbon.

MOF materials allow the capture, storage and controlled delivery of active molecules thanks to an adequate configuration of their chemical structure. This structure not only protects and stabilizes the active molecule – in this case carvacrol –, but also provides an unprecedented prolonged release system that dramatically increases its antimicrobial effect.

"Although carvacrol was already commonly used as a food additive to prevent bacterial contamination, the interesting thing about this new encapsulation method is that, in addition to being biocompatible, it allows the prolonged supply of the stored molecule and thus prolongs its antibacterial action," says Mónica Giménez, ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institute of Molecular Sciences and head of the project.

Source: Agrolink