Edible films and coatings of particular characteristics can be
produced from different sources including polysaccharides, proteins
and lipids. Polysaccharides have been frequently used to develop films and
coatings because of appropriate film forming properties. CMC
(E466) is a cellulose derivative of wide applications in food technology
such as thickening, stabilizing and mouthfeel improving. It
is composed of linear chains of b (1e4) glucosidic units with methyl
and carboxyl substituents . The obtained film from aqueous solutions of CMC has moderate strength; however,
has high water vapor permeability because of the inherent
hydrophilic nature. In contrast to some biopolymers such as chitosan,
CMC does not have any intrinsic antimicrobial properties. A
way to improve the moisture barrier properties of CMC toge the with developing antimicrobial characteristics would be the incorporation of hydrophobic compounds