## 6 Applications of Antimicrobial Peptides in Active Packaging
[PERSON] concluded that the porosity of the packaging material affects the release rate of antimicrobial agents [77]. Increasing the thickness reduces the release rate [78]. A slow release of the antimicrobial agent is a challenging aspect, but nanoencapsulation is found to be effective in speeding up the release [79]. [PERSON] also suggested that micro-capsulation and nanofibres are useful in achieving controlled release rate [80]. (iii) The Interaction and Inhibition System: The released antimicrobial peptides interact with the headspace or food surface to destruct or inhibit the microbial growth. Initially, AMPs interact with the microbial cell membrane through electrostatic attraction, followed by killing the microbial cell [81]. Inhibitory and destructive activities of AMPs are previously discussed in Section 3 of this review. There are several pieces of research based on the incorporation of AMPs derived from different sources other than insects into food packaging material. For example, the shelf-life extension of ham was reported in an investigation in which alginate films were impregnated with enterocins A and B. Enterocins A and B inhibited the growth of L. monocytogenes in ham during storage [82]. [PERSON] studied the incorporation of peptide 1018K6 into PET using cold plasma technology. Additionally, the results showed a reduction in the aerobic plate count, yeast and mould when the mozzarella cheese samples were packed in treated PET and stored under real conditions [83]. The incorporation of Lactobacillus curvatus into LLDPE via a coating was studied and showed the inhibitory activity against the Listeria species and Lactobacillus plantarum with no negative effect on the mechanical strength  
Figure 7: The basic mechanism of the antimicrobial peptide packaging system. of film [84]. A highly effective bioactive PET film was developed by [PERSON] and her colleagues using mitochondrial-targeted peptide 1 (MTP1). This film was prepared by treating the PET surface with plasma to increase the wettability of the film, followed by incubating the film in 50 \(\upmu\)m (MTP1) of solution for 24 h at 25 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Due to the plasma treatment, wettability was reduced from 89\({}^{\circ}\) to 76\({}^{\circ}\), and in addition of MET1, it further decreased to 36\({}^{\circ}\); hence, hydrophilicity is increased. For a shelf-life study on buffalo meat, 50 g from sirloin steaks were placed along with MTP1-functionlised film disk with a 9 cm diameter. Un-functionalised films were considered as control. The shelf life of buffalo meat was enhanced up to 6 days when placed with functionalised film, whereas control reached beyond the acceptability microbial count (7 Log CFU/g) on the fourth day of storage. For a shelf-life enhancement analysis of ricotta cheese, 30 g of ricotta cheese was placed along with 2.5 cm of MTP1-functionlised disk, and untreated PET films were considered as control. From the shelf-life study on ricotta cheese, it was observed that samples with functionalised film stayed fresh up to 10 days, while control samples spoiled after the fourth day [85]. It can be concluded from these studies that AMPs have a future scope in the food packaging industry.