Evaluation of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities for cellulose acetate films incorporated with Rosemary and Aloe Vera essential oils.

Enhancement of natural based polymeric membranes for active packaging takes the attention of scientists. Their biological activities can be obtained by adding essential oils, which are natural extracts with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. The target of current work aimed to produce bio-active membranes from cellulose acetate incorporated with Rosemary and Aloe Vera oil. The developed film's chemical structures and morphologies were investigated using FT-IR and SEM characterization tools. The impact of essential oils incorporation on water uptake, wettability behavior, and mechanical properties were explored. The results displayed that antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) increased as Rosemary and Aloe Vera oil percentage increases in cellulose acetate membranes. In addition, higher activity against B. subtilis compared to E. coli was also observed. Moreover, free radical scavenger activity (ABTS and DPPH) of cellulose acetate membranes, improved by increasing the essential oil content in the feed mixture. The obtained results provide a high potential for production of an efficient food packaging membrane from cellulose acetate containing Rosemary and Aloe Vera oil.