There is a strong need to reduce food waste while maintaining the quality of packaged food. Thus, we have
prepared a new fully organic and metal-free antimicrobial polymer, with the aim of increasing both the shelf life
and safety of packaged meat. This antimicrobial polymer is based on widely available commercial acrylic
monomers with covalently linked vanillin motifs, which are naturally occurring essential oils with antimicrobial
characteristics. The film-shaped antibacterial polymeric material shows antibacterial activity for Escherichia coli,
Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes with an R parameter of up to 3.18, 3.37 and 2.00 and inhibition
% of up to 99.95%, 99.96%, and 99.02%, respectively. To show the potential of these materials, we conducted a
proof of concept experiment in which the antimicrobial polymer film was used as an absorbent food pad. The
results show that the use of the antimicrobial polymer film can increase the shelf life of a packaged meat product
by 50%. Since the antimicrobial activity is based on a covalently anchored group, there is no antimicrobial agent
diffusion, and the antimicrobial activity persists beyond the first use because it is easily washable and reusable
for at least 10 cycles.
