Maria Fernanda Fernandes Siqueira, Khadija Bezerra Massaut, Patr\u00edcia Radatz Thiel, Juliani Buchveitz Pires, Elessandra da Rosa Zavareze, Eliezer Avila Gandra, Wladimir Padilha da Silva & \u00c2ngela Maria Fiorentini<\/p>\n
The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal activity of\u00a0Thymus vulgaris<\/i>\u00a0essential oil (TEO) against fungal isolates from cheese and its potential as an active component in cellulose acetate films for application on cheese, and to perform the characterization of the films. The cheese rind isolates were identified as\u00a0Penicillium crustosum<\/i>\u00a0QCP1 and\u00a0Aspergillus flavus<\/i>\u00a0QCA2. TEO exhibited significant in vitro inhibitory activity against all isolates, with inhibition zones exceeding 40.0\u00a0mm and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 1.0 \u00b5L mL\u207b\u00b9 and 0.8 \u00b5L mL\u207b\u00b9 for\u00a0P. crustosum<\/i>\u00a0QCP1 and\u00a0A. flavus<\/i>\u00a0QCA2, respectively. Incorporating TEO into cellulose acetate films altered the film\u2019s physical properties, particularly morphology and elongation. The control film, composed solely of acetate, showed the lowest values for most properties evaluated, except for tensile strength (MPa) (38.89\u2009\u00b1\u20095.29). For water permeability and water vapor permeability, no significant differences were observed between the control film and the active film containing TEO at tenfold MFC concentrations for each isolate. In in vitro tests with the active film,\u00a0P. crustosum<\/i>\u00a0QCP1 demonstrated higher sensitivity; however, the active film effectively inhibited the growth of both fungal isolates on cheese slices for 30 days. It was concluded that TEO has antifungal potential against isolates in more than one type of methodology and, when added to cellulose acetate film, was effective in controlling fungal mycelial growth, both in vitro and in situ, extending shelf life by up to 2 times, indicating a promising application as active packaging in cheeses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n