{
  "abstract": "This study investigated bacterial cellulose films (BCF) coated with twelve commercially available natural-origin wax and wax-like formulations as potential bio-based food-packaging materials. Bacterial cellulose (BC), produced by Komagataeibacter xylinus, was purified, homogenized, and dehydrated to obtain films suitable for subsequent wax coating. Among the preparation conditions investigated, a BC-to-water mass ratio of 1:2, a wet pulp mass of 45 g per dish, and drying at 60 °C for 24 h were selected. The resulting materials were evaluated for their water-related properties, surface wettability, antimicrobial activity, and antibiofilm performance. Wax coating reduced about threefold water uptake and liquid-water transfer compared with uncoated BCF and increased the mean water contact angle from 47.6° to 94.3°. The antimicrobial and antibiofilm effects varied depending on the wax formulation and the microorganism tested, reaching over 99% reduction in C. albicans and S. aureus for eight of the twelve wax formulations. Among the twelve formulations, the commercially available rapeseed–coconut wax blend (70:30; BCF-RCW) exhibited a favorable combination of water-related and antimicrobial properties and was selected for further surface micromorphology and mechanical characterization. In a preliminary food-storage experiment, all tested food samples wrapped in BCF-RCW exhibited significantly lower microbial counts than those wrapped in conventional polyethylene film or food wrapping paper during 21 days of refrigerated storage (over 99% reduction). These findings support the further development of wax-coated BC films as promising bio-based materials for functional food-packaging applications.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Animal Sciences, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Piastow 45, 70-311 Szczecin, Poland"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Elżbieta Redlarska",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0140-8553"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Klaudia Snopek"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Martyna Mielniczuk"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Karol Fijałkowski",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4915-6298"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Anna Żywicka",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0630-7252"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93gavz6n9wmga.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/polym18212705",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "93gavz6n9wmga",
  "issns": [
    "2073-4360"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2705",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-01",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93gavz6n9wmga.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T12:21:00Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/polym18212705",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2705"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "issn:2073-4360",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Wax-Functionalized Bacterial Cellulose Foils as Renewable Food Packaging with Enhanced Barrier and Antimicrobial Performance",
  "title_text": "Wax-Functionalized Bacterial Cellulose Foils as Renewable Food Packaging with Enhanced Barrier and Antimicrobial Performance",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-05T00:20:53Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93gavz6n9wmga",
  "venue": "Polymers",
  "versions": []
}