Based on many years of experience, packaging is considered as an inactive barrier that protects materials and goods from environmental factors. The applicability of native chemical additive such as essential oils in wrapping papers can be used in the forms of films, treatments, coatings or others. Essential oils or extracts from different aromatic plants are used as bioactive substances for antimicrobial activity. In this research, lavender essential oil treatment of packaging papers is examined for its inhibition activity under nine microorganisms—two Gram-positive bacteria, three Gram-negative bacteria, two yeast and two fungal strains. The effectiveness of the treatment on the structural and strength indicators of the obtained paper samples is monitored. In detail, a five-day examination is conducted on the antibacterial effectiveness of lavender essential oil treatment. Results indicate that the lavender treatment of the obtained packaging paper is successful and the antifungal effect is more pronounced. The antimicrobial efficiency of paper treated with lavender essential oil is between 60 and 90% in the first two hours after treatment and gradually decreases to 40%–50% at the end of the 120 h period. The lavender essential oil treatment of wrapping paper has a promising perspective for preserving products from microbial spoilage and extending their shelf life.

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Paper aging depends on the type and chemical composition of the fiber raw materials, the chemical additives used, such as dyes, fillers, sizing additives, pH and others as storage conditions of the paper (relative humidity and temperature) and the degree of exposure of temperature, light and some microbiological factors. The durability of paper is its ability to retain certain physic-mechanical, optical and chemical properties unchanged over time. In this context and in line with the increased consumption of coated or treated printing and packaging papers, the aging resistance of treated or coated paper is of a great scientific, research and applied interest. This research work inherently involves preparation and properties evaluation of thermal stability of packaging papers treated of silver water. In order to examine this process for woodfree packaging paper, accelerated thermal aging for 72h at temperature of 105°C and dynamic thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was carried out of a pulp sample and four paper samples (three of them treated with silver water – 1, 2 and 3 ml) together with the structural-dimensional and strength properties of the laboratory obtained paper samples. The degree of colour changes in the CIELab colour space have been studied, bearing in mind that the changes in colour characteristics define the stability over time and even more – the influence of the silver water treatment. As a result of the studies carried out it was found out that paper do not change significantly during 72h of accelerated thermal ageing, but it is not recommended to be used more than 2 ml of silver water, as silver ions probably catalyze the aging process and the paper darkens and turns yellow in a greater degree. The change of the weight of the paper samples as a function of temperature was monitored by TGA. When comparing the weight losses, it was found out that for the paper sample treated with 2 ml of silver water the temperature of complete burning of the sample increased by 2.28°C. In addition, the surface of the treated paper samples is more even compared to the untreated due to the callandering effect of the manufacturing process.

The aging of paper depends on various factors, including environmental conditions, microbiological factors and chemical composition. Chitosan-coated paper is an eco-friendly material that has potential use in various packaging applications due to its mechanical, barrier and antibacterial properties. In this study, the aging stability of chitosan-coated wood-free wrapping paper was evaluated by examining pulp and four paper samples with different quantities of chitosan. Accelerated thermal aging and dynamic thermogravimetric analysis were used to assess the aging stability, while color changes were examined to understand the impact of chitosan coating. The study found that increasing chitosan coating led to improved aging stability due to the improved crosslinking process between chitosan and paper. The coated paper samples displayed a yellowish hue after 72 h of aging, with increased strength and resistance to weight loss. TGA results indicated that the temperature of complete burning of the sample increased with increasing chitosan coating. Additionally, coated paper samples exhibited a more even surface and improved barrier properties. Overall, chitosan-coated paper is a promising material for sustainable and eco-friendly packaging, printing and wrapping applications. This study’s findings have important implications for the development of environmentally-friendly packaging materials that possess desirable mechanical and barrier properties.