Nanocomposite Film of Potato Starch and Gum Arabic Containing Boron Oxide Nanoparticles and Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) Essential Oil: Investigation of Physicochemical and Antimicrobial Properties

The purpose of this research was to prepare a nanocomposite film of potato starch (PS) and gum arabic (GA) containing boron oxide nanoparticles (BONs) and Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) essential oil (AHEO) and investigate its structural and physicochemical characteristics. For this purpose, BONs in three levels (0, 50 and 100 mg) and AHEO in three levels (0, 100 and 200 mu L) were evaluated according to the central compound design. After selecting the optimal films; an experiment to evaluate their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity was conducted. The results revealed that the antioxidant capacity and the films' thickness increased significantly with the AHEO addition (p < 0.05). The highest antioxidant capacity was 47.62%. The results of Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) confirmed the formation of new chemical interactions between PS and GA containing BONs and AHEO. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the nanocomposite films had a crystalline structure. The results of thermal analysis revealed that the increase in thermal stability of film samples indicates the proper interaction between the components of nanocomposite films. The increase in the elongation at break point of the films, contrary to their tensile strength, decreased with the increase of BONs and AHEO. Also, the results of the antimicrobial activity of the films revealed that the inhibition zone increased with the increase of BONs and AHEO. The highest inhibition zone (22.47 +/- 0.96) was for E. coli. In general, the current research showed promising applications of PS and GA nanocomposite film containing BONs and AHEO for the development of active antimicrobial food packaging.