Background: food borne pathogens and food spoilage fungi continue to be one of the leading causes of food loss and degradation in quality. The market interest in active packaging systems containing natural plant extracts as fillers has increased due to the rising consumer demands for chemical-free food products and eco-friendly materials.
Objective: This research investigates the antifungal and physical characteristics of bioactive packaging films containing rosemary extract (Rosmarinus officinalis) for assessing its performance against the fungal contamination in food packaging applications.
Conclusion: Bioactive packaging films with rosemary extract exhibit effective antifungal and antioxidant activity. They are a potential and environmentally friendly material for synthetic packaging in the fresh foods, to increase the shelf life and maintain the microbial safety.