The aging of paper depends on various factors, including environmental conditions, microbiological factors and chemical composition. Chitosan-coated paper is an eco-friendly material that has potential use in various packaging applications due to its mechanical, barrier and antibacterial properties. In this study, the aging stability of chitosan-coated wood-free wrapping paper was evaluated by examining pulp and four paper samples with different quantities of chitosan. Accelerated thermal aging and dynamic thermogravimetric analysis were used to assess the aging stability, while color changes were examined to understand the impact of chitosan coating. The study found that increasing chitosan coating led to improved aging stability due to the improved crosslinking process between chitosan and paper. The coated paper samples displayed a yellowish hue after 72 h of aging, with increased strength and resistance to weight loss. TGA results indicated that the temperature of complete burning of the sample increased with increasing chitosan coating. Additionally, coated paper samples exhibited a more even surface and improved barrier properties. Overall, chitosan-coated paper is a promising material for sustainable and eco-friendly packaging, printing and wrapping applications. This study’s findings have important implications for the development of environmentally-friendly packaging materials that possess desirable mechanical and barrier properties.

Based on many years of experience, packaging is considered as an inactive barrier that protects materials and goods from environmental factors. The applicability of native chemical additive such as essential oils in wrapping papers can be used in the forms of films, treatments, coatings or others. Essential oils or extracts from different aromatic plants are used as bioactive substances for antimicrobial activity. In this research, lavender essential oil treatment of packaging papers is examined for its inhibition activity under nine microorganisms—two Gram-positive bacteria, three Gram-negative bacteria, two yeast and two fungal strains. The effectiveness of the treatment on the structural and strength indicators of the obtained paper samples is monitored. In detail, a five-day examination is conducted on the antibacterial effectiveness of lavender essential oil treatment. Results indicate that the lavender treatment of the obtained packaging paper is successful and the antifungal effect is more pronounced. The antimicrobial efficiency of paper treated with lavender essential oil is between 60 and 90% in the first two hours after treatment and gradually decreases to 40%–50% at the end of the 120 h period. The lavender essential oil treatment of wrapping paper has a promising perspective for preserving products from microbial spoilage and extending their shelf life.

The aim of the present paper was to study and present a comparative analysis of the antibacterial activity and physicochemical properties of commercial mint essential oils from two different species-peppermint (Mentha piperita Huds. (L.)) and cornmint (Mentha arvensis L.). Peppermint oils exhibited weak antibacterial activity, but were more pronounced against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (1.3-2.0 mm) and Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (1.2-1.9 mm) and Klebsiella sp. (2.6 mm). The essential oil of the species M. arvensis did not exhibit antimicrobial activity against the tested cultures. L-menthol, which is a commercial sample isolate, exhibited activity against all tested microorganisms, with the exception of Gram-positive bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and Bacillus cereus. The diameter of the inhibition zones was the largest against Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis (3.4 mm), and the smallest was against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (1.6 mm) and Gram-negative bacteria Klebsiella sp. (1.4 mm). The surface tension, density and refractive index of different mint essential oils were determined experimentally. The surface energy and surface heat capacity were calculated based on the calculations of surface tension. All experiments and calculations were provided at a temperature range between 6℃ and 30℃. A dependence between surface tension and temperature was not observed.