Title
Chitosan coatings applied to polyethylene surface to obtain food-packaging materials
Authors
BOGDANEL SILVESTRU MUNTEANU ELENA PASLARU LIDIJA FRAS ZEMLJIC ANAMARIA SDROBIS GINA MIHAELA PRICOPE and CORNELIA VASILE

Received March 12, 2013
Published Volume 48 Issue 5-6 May-June
Keywords chitosan, polyethylene, surface modification, food-packaging

Abstract
This paper deals with the optimization of the experimental conditions used for coating of polyethylene (PE) with chitosan, a nontoxic cationic polysaccharide, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Agency, with good antimicrobial properties and biocompatibility. To enhance chitosan adhesion, the PE surface was previously corona treated. The uncoated and chitosan-coated polyethylene films were characterized by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), potentiometric titration and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chitosan-coated PE films were also examined for oxygen permeability and antimicrobial activity against food pathogen microorganisms as Gram-positive (Listeria monocytogenes) or Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Salmonella) bacteria.