Physicochemical, antibacterial and food preservation properties of active packaging films based on chitosan/ε-polylysine-grafted bacterial cellulose

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules Vol. 253; no. Pt 5; p. 127231
• Main Authors: Liao, Wenying, Liu, Xiaoli, Zhao, Qing, Lu, Zhanhui, Feng, Anqi, Sun, Xin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 31.12.2023
• Subjects: antibacterial properties; Bacterial cellulose; cellulose; Chitosan; Composite film; composite films; food contamination; food preservation; tensile strength; thermal stability; thermogravimetry; water solubility; X-ray diffraction; Composite film; Bacterial cellulose; Chitosan
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127231

To address the environmental and food contamination issues caused by plastics and microorganisms, antimicrobial films using natural polymers has attracted enormous attention. In this work, we proposed a green, convenient and fast approach to prepare antimicrobial films from chitosan (CS), bacterial cellulose (BC) and ε-polylysine (ε-PL). The effects of different concentrations of ε-PL (0 %, 0.25 %, 0.5 %, 0.75 %, 1 %, w/v) on the physicochemical properties and antibacterial activity of composite films (CS-DABC-x%PL) were systematically investigated. Furthermore, a comprehensive comparison with purely physically mixed CS-BC-x%PL films provides a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Characterization tests of the films were conducted using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results suggested that the incorporation of 0.5 % ε-PL reduced the water solubility of the composite film by 19.82 %, along with improved the tensile strength and thermal stability by 37.31 % and 28.54 %. As ε-PL concentration increased to 1 %, the antibacterial performance of the films gradually enhanced. Additionally, the CS-DABC-0.5%PL film demonstrated effectiveness in delaying the deterioration of tilapia. These findings imply that this novel green packaging material holds significant potential in food preservation due to its promising antibacterial properties.