Desenvolvimento de filme biodegradável com adição de óleo essencial de Pimenta dioica

The environmental impact caused by packaging has increased interest in the use of biodegradable materials as an alternative to replacing conventional packaging. Among these materials, those derived from starch have drawn attention to their biodegradability, low cost and easy obtainment. Starch, in particular, is one of the most promising and studied polysaccharides in the development of biopolymers. Cheese, being a vehicle for transmitting diseases such as food poisoning, requires strict care from production to storage. In view of this, this work aimed to develop starch films with the addition of pimenta dioica essential oil for the conservation of artisanal Canasta minas cheese. The films were produced using a formulation of 3g of corn starch, 0.9g of glycerol in 100 mL of distilled water, and different concentrations of essential oil were added to this solution, resulting in five treatments. The solutions were heated at 95°C for 15 minutes to gelatinize the starch. Then, the suspension formed was poured into Petri dishes and taken to an oven at 35°C for solvent evaporation. The films were carefully manually removed from the plates, avoiding contamination and damage to their structure. Subsequently, they were used to pack pieces of cheese in order to carry out the analyses. Microbiological analyzes were carried out at times of 0, 7 and fourteen days in order to evaluate the efficiency of biodegradable films as antimicrobial agents, with the addition of allspice essential oil, against mesophilic aerobic microorganisms. However, it is concluded that the films had some effect, but did not show a significant effectiveness in the conservation of the cheese.