Adamu, Zegeye (Assoc. Prof.)Melak, Muche2018-12-142023-11-102018-12-142023-11-102018-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/15117Antimicrobial packaging is one of the most promising active packaging systems. Starch based film is considered an economical and environmentally-friendly material for antimicrobial packaging. This study aimed at the development of food packaging from corn starch incorporated with methanol extract of plumbago zeylanica root as antimicrobial agents. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was tested on three bacterial strains namely Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, E. coli and one fungal strain known as aspergilla niger. Inhibition of bacterial growth was examined using zone of inhibition test on solid media. For this 200 µl of various concentrations, 200mg/ml 100mg/ml, 50mg/ml and 25mg/ml plant extract were added into 8 mm hole diameter using micropipette. Hence 200µl of 200mg/ml extract could inhibit 13.5, 8.75, 10.5 and 27 mm diameter for Salmonella typhi, E. coli, staphylococcus aureus and Aspergilla niger respectively. Minimum inhibitory concentration was determined involving broth dilution method. From minimum inhibitory concentration findings, 1.25mg/ml, 2.5mg/ml ,1.25mg/ml and 0.625 mg/ml crude extract in liquid medium completely inhibited the growth of S. aureus, E. coli, Salmonella typhi and aspergilla niger respectively. This result showed that plumbago zeylanica exhibited a potential antimicrobial activity on selected pathogenic microorganisms. Consequently, the control and antimicrobial agent films were produced by casting method. From the observations, antimicrobial packaging films exhibited inhibitory zones. Interestingly, a wide clear zone on solid media was observed for Salmonella typhi and aspergilla niger growth inhibition whereas inhibition for E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus were not as effective as Salmonella typhi and aspergilla niger. These results showed that the incorporation of plumbago zeylanica extract had a significant influence on the growth of each selected microorganism (P<0.05). Overall, the current study manifested that plasticized corn starch can be regarded as a promising biodegradable antimicrobial packaging film.en-USAntimicrobial activityCorn StarchPackaging FilmPlumbago ZeylanicaProductionThesis