Abstract
This research aims to develop an antifungal packaging film to mitigate the quality deterioration of mass-produced bread for industrial purposes. Various antifungal agents were tested against four target fungi; Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Penicillium corylophilum, and Neurospora sp.; commonly found in bread, to replace the commercial antifungal film. Among them, Cinnamomum cassia essential oil (CEO) exhibited strong antifungal activity, with MIC values below 100 ppm against all tested strains. We implemented the CEO-incorporated powder onto the multilayered packaging film and subsequent packaging trials were conducted on the industrial packaging machinery. Organoleptic analyses using electronic tongue and electronic nose revealed that the application of CEO maintained the bread's flavor and aroma throughout storage, implying the newly developed CEO-treated film was comparably preferred to the conventional material. Therefore, this investigation highlights the promising potential of CEO's effective antifungal agent to combat bread quality deterioration during distribution for industrial operations.