Develop Capacity in the Application of Nanotechnology in Active and Intelligent Food Packaging to Enhance Experiential Learning in Food Safety

The main objective of the proposed integrated project is to develop the Food Processing and Safety component's capacity to support training for undergraduate, graduate and high school students in the area of food packaging and the application nanotechnology on food quality and safety research.The specific objectives of the teaching components are to:i. Increase the functional capacity and potential with the establishment of a state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation laboratory facility to support multidisciplinary high quality teaching and experiential learning in the Department of Food and Animal Sciences, AAMU;ii. Increase the faculty preparation for improved sustainable educational competency in the new emerging area of nanotechnology as it applies to active and intelligent packaging and; iii. Redesign the advance Food packaging course and develop a new course undergraduate packaging course;iv. Develop a Freshman Research Initiatives (FRI) program and summer programs for high school students in the Food Packaging and Food Safety;v. Increase the capacity to recruit and retain minority students in the new Food Safety concentration to bridge the gap of underrepresentation in the food industry and leadership development and networking. Research Objectives: The research component of the proposed project will provide a platform to enrich and complement the teaching and education via curricular enhancement. It is hypothesized that active antimicrobial film will provide control and regulate microbial growth on meat surfaces and increase the shelflife of the refrigerated meat.The specific objectives of the research components are:i. Design and develop a film coated with nanoemulsions with (nanoparticles loaded with bioactive) natural antimicrobials (garlic, clove and oregano);ii. Evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of the bioactive compound in controlling Escherichia coli, salmonella and listeria monocytogene and community characterization with 16S rRNA sequencing;iii. Conduct a shelflife study on the effect of the active packaging on the meat product; andiv. Investigate the controlled release kinetics mechanism of the bioactive compound from the polymer surface into the meat product via mathematical modeling.