Contributing factors to the migration of antimicrobials in active packaging films

[Display omitted] •Release of antimicrobials from film to food plays an important role in food quality and safety.•Bacteriocins, essential oils, organic acids, enzymes, and phages are used in films.•Food matrix influences the release of antimicrobial substances.•Film properties influence the release of antimicrobial substances.•Water molecules and some substance properties could influence the substance release. Antimicrobial active packaging plays a key role in food quality and safety. The addition of antimicrobial agents in packaging production aims to release these agents from film to food, thereby preventing, reducing, or eliminating the contamination caused by pathogens or food spoilage microorganisms. This review provides an overview of the antimicrobial active packaging and gives an insight of the antimicrobials that have been used to manufacture antimicrobial active films. Additionally, it discusses the findings of studies that have developed active films, identifying the related factors with the release of antimicrobials from film to packaged food, as well as their possible mechanisms of release. Four interrelated factors that affect the release of antimicrobial agents have been identified. The first one addresses the film properties, the second one corresponds to food characteristics, the third one environmental condition, and the last one the attributes of the antimicrobial agent itself. There have been reported two mechanisms for explaining the antimicrobial release. The first mechanism addresses the water as the main regulator, and the second implies a natural diffusion of antimicrobials. The identification of related factors with the release can contribute to optimizing new methods in the design of antimicrobial active packaging.