Evaluation of physical and antioxidant properties of biodegradable film of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose combined with clove essential oil

In this study, the antioxidant activity of essential oil (EO) of clove in comparing to BHT was investigated using DPPH free radical scavenging, β-carotene/linoleic acid and reducing power methods.The EO was added to aqueous Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and then HPMC film was prepared, in first stage the effect of clove EO as a natural antioxidant in mechanical/optical properties and water vapor (WVP)/oxygen permeability (OP) of films was investigated. Subsequently, the antioxidant activities of films against soybean oil oxidation were evaluated during 60 days storage at 40 °C in a dark place by measuring the peroxide value (PV). Results of DPPH and reducing power assays showed that, higher antioxidant activity was observed for clove EO than BHT. The EO causes a significant decrease of WVP and OP of films. Also, addition of clove EO into HPMC film led to decrease of transparency and mechanical properties. In general, elongation percentage from 23.6 to 17.9%, tensile strength from 27.3 to 12.3 MPa and elastic modulus from 537.5 to 479 MPa in comparing to control film (without antioxidant) was decreased. HPMC film containing clove EO revealed a notable antioxidant activity against the soybean oil oxidation in comparing to control film (P