The properties of food packaging paper from oil palm empty fruit bunches pulp coated with chitosan

The coating process on food packaging paper is carried out to improve the food safety aspect from dangerous substance migration from food packaging into food. It can facilitate to increase its function and wide the potency of utilization. The coating materials commonly used are plastic and wax coatings. Chitosan as a natural polymer that has the binding properties both water and oil. Chitosan has polar and non-polar groups thus it is potential to be developed as a coating material for food packaging paper. The purpose of this study was to determine the physical-mechanical and antimicrobial properties of food packaging paper from oil palm empty fruit bunches pulp coated with chitosan. The parameters used were chitosan and pulp weight. The oil palm empty fruit bunch pulp was fibrillated with high speed blender then mixed with chitosan solution. The mixed solution was poured in the mold and dried in an oven at 60 °C for 24 hours. The results showed that increasing of chitosan content was coated paper increased physical and mechanical properties values. The more pulp content the higher the physical properties value, however the mechanical properties value tend to decrease. The antimicrobial activity of chitosan coated paper was evaluated by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zones. The results revealed that all tested samples showed growth inhibition zone againts to Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus after 24 h incubation compared to commercial food packaging paper.