ES2339770T3 - ANTIMICROBIAL PACKAGE BASED ON THE USE OF NATURAL EXTRACTS AND THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING THIS PACKAGE. - Google Patents

Abstract

Antimicrobial and fungicidal packaging produced by applying to packaging of any material or format a coating or active liquid comprised of a resin substrate, solvents, additives and an extract of natural essences with or without fixatives, that can be applied to manufactured packaging, achieving its effects without the need for direct contact with the products requiring protection and using natural products such as cinnamon, clove, ginger, rosemary, oregano, dill, basil or other similar products, alone or in combination with concentrations of the natural extracts of between 0.1 % and 10% in weight of the active liquid.

Description

Antimicrobial container based on the use of natural extracts and the process of obtaining this container.

Object of the invention

The object of the present invention is corresponds to an antimicrobial container based on the use of natural extracts and also with the process followed to obtain this container The container corresponding to the object of the invention is characterized by its antimicrobial, antifungal and also antioxidants

To achieve the specified objectives, it uses a vehicle, called active liquid herein memory, which is applied to a support made of plastic materials, paper, cardboard, aluminum, etc. of a rigid or flexible format.

The present invention is characterized in that the Active liquid can be applied to different containers in the form of Different types of coatings or as a spray.

The active liquid comprises resins, which are they select depending on the type of container, solvents that give fluidity to the system, additives that give it flexibility and, finally, active components, which in this case are extracts natural with or without fixatives.

Therefore, the present invention can be included within the area of varnishes used to coat containers used for storage and preservation of products, mainly but not exclusively, for storage food products, in order to improve the characteristics of the container and the packaged product.

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Background of the invention

To date, the active container is one of the most important technological innovations to preserve products food This package is designed to provide the packaged product an additional protection, using the interaction between the food or product contained in the package to Improve its preservation and acceptability.

The actions carried out to improve the Quality of the products inside the package include:

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The addition of some compounds in the package, such as absorbers oxygen, moisture absorbers, ethylene absorbers and others.

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The addition of new components, dissolved or incorporated into the container material, such as antioxidants or others.

Examples are described in FR 1 266 546, US 6 106 876 and WO 0 244 055.

These solutions, already known as measures protective and means to improve packaged products, present  some inconveniences, such as involving the incorporation of bodies strangers inside the container, the alteration of the properties organoleptic products by introducing foreign elements or irregular distribution of protective properties.

This can even lead to a complete loss. of the desired activity (loss of effectiveness) when there is no direct contact between the product to be protected and the container, since the Protection is achieved through direct contact.

It is also a clear inconvenience to have to manufacture a film in each case with the additional requirement of have to store movies of different composition.

To date, only one has been described type of package that includes an antioxidant formulation, also through the authors of this patent. The purpose of this invention can not be considered under any circumstances a version later of the same patent, since the objective of the first patent was only to avoid the oxidation that occurs in the container, without any microbial or antifungal activity, and used Different products to achieve the same.

Cases of containers with activity are known antimicrobial and / or antifungal in which the liquid used to such purposes are incorporated in the manufactured container, since in other proposed solutions for similar purposes the elements used to achieve these objectives they need to incorporate the same in the formats during the polymerization process and during the Obtaining the plastic material.

On the other hand, some processes reach same objectives but use chemical compounds obtained synthetically This is inconvenient from the perspective of consumer since first these products have to be approved and present potential unknown risks to the health of Humans.

To achieve these properties, they are used natural extracts or essential oils that are part of a active liquid that is applied as a coating to the container. This way, the active agents are immobilized in the material of the container and the system as a whole presents the properties antimicrobial and antifungal. To achieve this action microbial and antifungal, no direct contact with the product to be protected since the protection is given by the controlled release of antimicrobial agents in the liquid asset used to manufacture the container.

The use of natural extracts has the advantage that all of them are classified as GRAS materials ("Generally Recognized as Safe" or Generally Recognized as Insurance) and are derived from plants used as condiments in food products

Therefore, another object of the invention is overcome the above disadvantages of:

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Incorporate food products during the manufacturing process of the container, with the incorporation of these to the final manufactured packaging format.

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The need for direct contact between food products to protect and the packaging with the protection formulation, since it produces a vapor phase responsible for the protection of food products.

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Use chemicals from unique formulation obtained synthetically and with risks for Health unknown.

Description of the invention

The antimicrobial container that corresponds to The object of the invention basically consists of a container of any material, format and configuration, to which it has been applied an active liquid that, among other elements, contains oils essential with an antimicrobial, antifungal and presumably also antioxidant.

The active liquid can be applied to the format end of the manufactured container before filling it with the product desired, therefore it is not necessary to have a large warehouse or active container of different characteristics for the different products to be packed

The active liquid comprises:

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- A formulation made of:

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A resin base such as nitrocellulose, acrylic components, vinyl or others, selected depending on the type of packaging that the liquid is applied, to get a good accession.

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Solvents that provide fluidity to the active liquid.

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Additives to give flexibility or other characteristics to the covering.

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Natural extracts based on essential oils that contain active agents together with appropriate fixatives, which produce effects  of blocking or immobilization of the agents required for the desired antimicrobial and antifungal characteristics and allow controlled release of active agents.

The natural extracts used, among others, they can correspond to cinnamon, clove, ginger, rosemary, oregano, dill, basil, etc. or other similar compounds derived from plants, alone or combined in appropriate proportions Depending on the desired effect. The proportion of the extracts is between 0.1% and 10% by weight of the active liquid.

The natural extracts added to the base formulation may be in the form of a single essence or combined with a fixative that retains the volatile elements of natural extracts and that play the most active role in the inhibition of the growth of bacteria, yeasts and fungi.

The desired objective is complete inhibition of the growth of bacteria, yeasts and fungi, producing its total elimination and avoiding its subsequent increase.

Depending on the type and concentration of the extract used and whether or not it is used as a fixative, it is achieved complete inhibition or at least a reduction in units colony forming (CFU) for some types of bacteria, fungi or yeasts

Since certain types of food favor the growth of certain bacteria and / or fungi, are required different types or combinations of natural extracts in each case, in order to achieve complete inhibition of all possible bacteria, fungi and yeasts that may arise.

In some cases, it has been discovered that the combination of natural extracts has a synergistic effect on their inhibition properties, significantly improving the active efficacy

The following tables are included in an attempt to demonstrate the effect of natural extracts added to a basic formulation applied to a container, where the following abbreviations:

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CFU-s per ml = units colony forming per ml.

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Control = standard culture of micro- organisms produced in the petri dish used in the laboratory experiments

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P0 = The basic formulation without any extract.

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PCA1: the basic formulation to which 1% cinnamon essence has been added by weight of the active liquid.

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PCA4: the basic formulation to which 4% cinnamon essence has been added by weight of the active liquid.

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PPeCA1: the basic formulation to which 1% cinnamon essence has been added along with a fixative.

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PPeCA4: the basic formulation to which 4% cinnamon essence has been added along with a fixative.

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TABLE 1 Bacterial diffusion assays

one

TABLE 2 Fungus diffusion tests

2

As can be seen in table 1, the number of colony forming units (CFU-s / ml) of bacteria is zero, that is, there are NO colony forming units for most bacteria and for none of the fungi and yeasts for an extract of cinnamon essence 4% with fixative.

Also, in table 2 it can be seen that no mushroom colonies are formed with 1% cinnamon extracts combined with fixative.

Logically, these experiments have been carried out with natural extracts such as clove, basil, rosemary, etc. producing in some cases a drop in the number of colony forming units (CFU-s) and a radius of inhibition within which no colony develops, while in other cases there is a total inhibition, that is, no there is growth of a specific bacteria, yeast or fungus.

The process to obtain the antimicrobial container It presents the following steps:

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Preparation of a basic formulation composed of a resin substrate, some solvents and some additives to confer the final characteristics to the covering.

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Dispersion and dissolution of extracts natural in the basic formulation containing active agents antimicrobials and antifungals. The solution or dispersion is performs using rotor and stator type assemblies Cowles; wet grinding devices or other devices Similar.

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Incorporation of active liquid into support or chosen container.

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Drying of the container, outdoors or with forced air.

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The incorporation of the active liquid into the container it can be done:

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Impregnating the support in the liquid active.

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Coating the different forms of support.

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Spraying the active liquid in the support.

The container to which the liquid is applied can be made of plastic, paper, cardboard, tinfoil, steel, aluminum  or glass, of a material or in several layers. The materials Used can be virgin or recycled.

The supports to which the active liquid are;

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Polypropylene and all its shapes.

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Polyethylene and all its forms.

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Polyester (PET, PETG).

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PVDC

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Polystyrene and all its shapes.

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PVC

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Polyamide.

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Polycarbonate

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Cellulosic films (cellophane) and all their forms

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KRAFT

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Paper and all its forms.

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Aluminum.

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Paper tin.

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Steel.

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Glass.

And all the complexes that can be formed to from these materials (by adhesion, lamination or extrusion).

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Description of the drawings

As a complement to this report descriptive and to make compression easier, it comes accompanied by a set of planes. The most aspects significant of the invention are represented in the figures of these plans, they should be considered as illustrative and in no way limiting the scope of the invention.

Figure 1. This shows a representation Schematic of the steps of the packaging manufacturing process antimicrobial based on the essence of the object of the invention.

Figure 2. This shows a representation schematic of the materials used to make the liquid asset applied to the final container.

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Preferred Embodiment of the Invention

In view of the figures, a preferred application of the proposed invention.

Figure 1 represents the necessary steps to the process to manufacture the antimicrobial container that constitutes the object of the invention and consists of the following steps:

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Preparation (1) of a formulation basic, which is composed of a resin substrate, some solvents and some additives that confer the characteristics finishes to the coating.

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Dispersion and dissolution (2) of natural extracts containing active agents antimicrobials and antifungals in the basic formulation. The dissolution or dispersion is performed using stirring systems as the rotor and stator assembly of type "Cowles", wet grinding devices or other methods Similar.

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Incorporation (3) of the active liquid into the support or chosen container.

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Drying (4) of the container, outdoors or by forced air.

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The active liquid can be incorporated into the container through:

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Impregnation (3.1) of the package by the active liquid in the form of a spray.

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Coating (3.2) of the different packaging formats

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He sprayed (3.3) of the container with the active liquid.

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Figure 2 shows that the active liquid (10) understands:

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A Basic formulation (5) composed of:

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A resin substrate (6) made of nitrocellulose, compounds Acrylics, vinyl or other compounds whose selection is based on the type of support to which they are applied, to achieve a Good adhesion

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Solvents (7) that give fluidity to the active liquid.

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Additives (8) to give flexibility or other characteristics to the covering.

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Natural extracts based on oils essentials that contain active agents that produce effects of blocking or immobilization of the active agents that confer the Desired antibacterial and antifungal characteristics.

This description is sufficient for Any person skilled in the art understands the scope of the invention. and the benefits that can be derived from it.

Materials and dimensions, shape and Component configuration may vary on condition that the essence of the invention is maintained.

The terms used in this report descriptive should always be interpreted in its broadest sense and Not restrictively.

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References cited in the description

This list of references cited by the applicant is only for the convenience of the reader. It is not part of the European patent document. Although great care has been taken during the collection of references, errors or omissions should not be excluded and in this regard the EPO disclaims all liability .

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Patent documents cited in the description

FR 1266546 [0008]

WO 0244055 A [0008]

US 6106876 A [0008]

Claims (8)

1. Antimicrobial container based on the use of natural extracts consisting of the container to which a coating or an active liquid composed of a formulation Basic consisting of:

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A resin substrate made of nitrocellulose, acrylic compounds, vinyl, etc.

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Solvents to confer fluidity to liquid.

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Additives to confer flexibility or other characteristics to the coating.

characterized in that in the basic formulation, natural extracts based on essential oils of plants containing antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant active agents are dissolved or dispersed in a final proportion of natural extracts ranging between 0.1% and 10% in weight of the final active liquid and in which the natural extracts are based on volatile elements. 2. An antimicrobial container according to claim 1, characterized in that the natural extracts can be selected among others from: cinnamon, clove, ginger, rosemary, oregano, dill, basil among others, alone or as mixtures in appropriate combinations according to the type of products to be preserved, since the type of product stored determines the type of bacteria, yeasts and fungi that can be developed. 3. Antimicrobial container according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the material of the package is made from plastics, metals, paper, cardboard, tin foil, steel, aluminum, single or in multiple layers, virgin or recycled. 4. An antimicrobial container according to claim 2, characterized in that more bactericidal agents are applied to the natural extracts in essence form or with a fixative that retains volatile compounds. 5. Process for obtaining an antimicrobial container based on the use of essential oils, according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the process consists of the following steps: - Preparation of a basic formulation, consisting of a resin substrate, some solvents and some additives to confer the final characteristics to the coating. - Dispersion and dissolution in the basic formulation of natural extracts containing antimicrobial and antifungal active agents. - Incorporation of the active liquid to the chosen support or container. - Drying the container. 6. Process for obtaining an antimicrobial container according to claim 6, characterized in that the dissolution or dispersion is carried out using agitators of the Cowles rotor and stator assembly type, wet grinding devices or other similar methods. 7. Process for obtaining an antimicrobial container according to claim 6 characterized in that the active liquid can be incorporated into the container: - By impregnating the container with active liquid. - Coating the different forms of the container. - Spraying the active liquid in the container. 8. Process for obtaining an antimicrobial container according to claim 6 characterized in that the package is dried outdoors or by forced air.