Chapter 49 – Combinational Approaches for Antimicrobial Packaging: Natamycin and Nisin

Food safety is a global priority and one of the major objectives of the current food legislation. The right combination of strategies for food industrialization, including the packaging step, ensures the achievement of that objective. New food products and new industrialization processes impose the need for the development of new packaging materials that ensure food protection and that address the changing demands of the food industry and consumers. The general perception of the importance of minimizing environmental damage has catalyzed the exploration of new biobased packaging materials, such as biodegradable and edible films, because they are environmentally friendly. In addition, consumer demand for more natural foods has promoted research about natural antimicrobials like natamycin and nisin. This chapter reviews the available information on antimicrobial packaging containing the natural antimicrobials natamycin and nisin simultaneously and, in particular, their antimicrobial effectiveness. According to published and new results evaluated, packaging containing natamycin and nisin is a very efficient strategy to control food contamination. In addition, the use of biodegradable materials to produce the packaging contributes to environment protection.