Journal Article Ppublish
PubMed: 41652752 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2025.118221
Electrospinning of gelatin-based composite Nanofibrous coating loaded with Citral and its antibacterial application in chilled meat preservation.
Food Res Int 227:118221
Authors: Jinming Dai, Mei Bai, Tariq Aziz, Nada K Alharbi, Ashwag Shami, Fahad Al-Asmari, Fakhria A Al-Joufi, Haiying Cui, Lin Lin
Affiliations
- School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Food Quality and Safety-State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of MOST, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China.
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
- Department of Food and Nutrition Sciences, College of Agricultural and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Aljouf 72341, Saudi Arabia.
- School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
- School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
Abstract
Gelatin is an important biocompatible and sustainable material for developing novel active food packaging. Herein, we report a gelatin/citral emulsion electrospinning strategy using sodium dodecyl sulfate as both an emulsifier and crosslinking agent to achieve effective encapsulation of citral and continuous formation of bioactive nanofiber coatings. The resulting core-shell nanofibers (CIT-NF) exhibited an average diameter of 286.7 ± 83.6 nm with a citral loading capacity of 225.8 mg/g. Furthermore, a hydrophobic surface layer was constructed through gelatin/ethyl cellulose blend electrospinning to form a bilayer membrane (CIT/EG-NF). The results demonstrate that the gelatin-based shell layer significantly improved the thermal stability of citral, increasing its maximum mass loss rate temperature from 155.8 °C to 166.1 °C. Remarkably, the fibrous network of the hydrophobic surface layer not only enhanced the aqueous stability of the fiber coating but also enabled sustained release of antimicrobials over 48 h on semi-solid surfaces. The CIT/EG-NF coating efficiently inhibited microbial growth in fresh chicken and beef, reducing the total viable count by more than 99 % and maintaining it below the spoilage threshold of 6 log CFU/g after 9 days of storage at 4 °C. Additionally, the coating reduced Staphylococcal enterotoxin production by 30-40 % in both meat types under a high bacterial loading. This study presents a novel bio-based active packaging strategy for controlling microbial contamination in meat products.
MeSH
Meat, Food, Gelatin, Nanofibers