سمیه لطفی نیا

In the recent years, considerable attention has been allocated in the area of using natural preservatives (essential oils) in foods. This study was designed to evaluate the use of starch foam containing essential oil to prevent mold growth and improve packaged bread Shelf life. For this purpose, first cinnamon essential oil was extracted with water by distillation method and its minimum inhibitory concentration was determined, then 250 grams samples of bread within polypropylene plastic bags was prepared. Various amounts of cinnamon essential oil (500, 750, 1000 and 1500ppm) with 1g of starch foam powder inside sterilized filter paper were placed in these packages. The control samples also were parcels containing starch and without adding essential oil. Then control and treated samples were evaluated three times each three days for 15 days form old contamination, and sensory characteristics. The obtained results of multi way and intergroup repeated tests indicated that significant difference (P <0/05) exists between the control groups and various groups containing cinnamon essential oil in terms of microbial content. In the samples containing essential oils, less increase was observed for microbial load content and with increasing concentrations of cinnamon essential oil. It can be concluded that by using starch foam containing cinnamon essential oil in bulky bread packing at normal temperature (25 °C), the corruption process of bread can be postponed of 3 day to 6 days and it can be used as an appropriate natural and antifungal preservative in packaging of bread.