## 1 Introduction  
The employment of chemical additives in food preservation is increasingly less accepted by consumers and limited by restrictive laws [1], and new methodologies based on natural additives are necessary to improve the prospects of sustainable packaging for future applications in the food industry. Foodborne infections due to bacterial pathogens such as _Listeria monocytogenes_ remain a serious health concern, as this foodborne pathogen, responsible for over 90% of all cases of food poisoning, is also associated with high mortality in humans, notably for vulnerable sub-populations: young, old, pregnant, and immunocompromised [2]. _L. monocytogenes_ causes sepitemia, meningitis, and other infections of the central nervous system in immunocompromised patients. If a woman is infected during pregnancy, it may lead to spontaneous abortion, neonatal sepsis or fetal death. In 2021, 2268 confirmed cases of listeriosis were reported by 30 EU/EEA Member States. Germany, France and Italy were the countries with the highest number of reported cases (560, 435 and 241 respectively), corresponding to 54.5% of all cases reported in the EU/EEA [3]. Listeriosis has the second-highest fatality rate (21%) and the highest hospitalization rate (90.50%), with 2536 European cases of listeriosis reported in 2016 [4, 5]. _L. monocytogenes_ is a psychrotrophic bacteria that can grow at refrigeration temperatures and can persist in food processing plants and on equipment [6]. This pathogen can contaminate food during all stages of production, and it is most frequently found in perishable foods that can also be eaten raw, such as: fish and fishery products (6%), ready to eat salts (4.2%), meat and meat products (1.8%), soft and semi-soft cheeses (0.9%), fruit and vegetables (0.6%) and hard cheeses (0.1%) [5]. Fish and seafood products, notably those consumed without cooking and preserved at refrigeration temperatures for a long time (such as smoked fish), support the growth of the pathogen, providing sufficient nutrients for its growth. _L. monocytogenes_ can both directly contaminate the raw seafood from the aquatic environment or be reintroduced at the end of the production process [7]. Smoked mussels, smoked trout, raw oysters, gravid and cold-smoked fish are all fishery foods responsible for outbreaks of listeriosis [8; 9; 10; 11]. The persistence of _L. monocytogenes_ in food processing plants is an important factor both in the transmission of this foodborne pathogen and in the contamination of food and food-associated environments. In this context, a primary role is played by the biofilm [12; 13], a microbial community which allows the persistence and therefore the environmental spread of the pathogen. _L. monocytogenes_ is capable of surviving, adapting and persisting in various environments due to the presence of a biofilm. Inside this structure it can find both nutrients for growth and protection from different adverse conditions, including preservation treatments [14; 15]. Within the biofilm, microorganisms are more resistant to sanitation treatments than their planktonic form, and this complex microbial structure is more difficult to eradicate, becoming a continuous source of contamination in food processing plants [16; 17]. Cleaning and sanitizing procedures are currently applied to food processing plants by employing chemicals, but recently the need for chemical-free foodstuffs and concern for the environment have increased the demand for treatments that do not involve their use in the food field. Among the most widely used procedures is refrigeration, a treatment that uses low temperatures to slow down the growth of pathogenic microorganisms (and the possible production of toxins), which is certainly the most-used means of preservation for all types of food. This preservation method is particularly used for those foods defined as \"fresh\" which have undergone low levels of heat treatments or transformations and are free from additives.