Bio-based and eco-friendly agents with antibacterial properties for textile functionalization: insights from the Donizetti project.

Functionalization of textile fibers and fabrics improves their performance, increasing durability and longevity, and providing various biological activities, including antibacterial ones. Antimicrobial textiles are functionally active textiles, which may kill microorganisms or inhibit their growth. The antimicrobial effect is usually obtained through the application of chemical substances, employing expensive materials with high environmental impact, as well as thermal treatment. For this reason, in the last decade, the textile industry has focused its attention on safer and more sustainable alternatives, using vegetable-based products, often obtained from residues or by-products from the agri-food industries, which have demonstrated to be a source of bioactive compounds with biocidal activity. In this work, the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of polyphenols (PPs), such as rosmarinic acid (RA) and eugenol (EU), are exploited. In particular, these biomolecules were used as coatings for cotton fabrics and their antimicrobial activity was evaluated against two bacterial strains, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.