Electrospun Zein Fibers Using Glutaraldehyde as the Crosslinking Reagent: Effect of Time and Temperature

Abstract

Glutaraldehyde was used as a crosslinking reagent to produce electrospun zein fibers with improved physical properties and solvent resistance. Using 8% glutaraldehyde, round and ribbon fibers were produced with diameters between 1 and 70 µm. All fibers readily dissolved in acetic acid. Heating the zein/glutaraldehyde fibers at temperatures from 80 to 180 °C for different times provided various degrees of insolubility to the fibers. A model was developed relating the extent of dissolution with the amount of glutaraldehyde used and the temperature/time at which the fiber was exposed. The fibers were found to be birefringent; upon heating, the amount of α‐helix in the fiber was reduced.

Development of flexible zein–wax composite and zein–fatty acid blend films for controlled release of lysozyme

“…Zein, a water insoluble hydrophobic storage protein found in corn and maize, attracts a particular interest as a biopolymer since it has excellent film forming and gas barrier properties; it is one of the rare proteins soluble in various organic solvents including ethanol and it is the major co-product of the oil and rapidly growing bioethanol industries (Manley & Evans, 1943;Selling, Woods, Sessa, & Biswas, 2008;Shukla & Cheryan, 2001;Wang et al, 2007;Zhang, Luo, & Wang, 2011). Thus, a particular interest has been focused on use of zein in active food packaging by incorporation of different natural antimicrobials including lysozyme (Gucbilmez et al, 2007;Mecitoglu et al, 2006;Padgett et al, 1998).…”

Electrospun zein nanofibers incorporating cyclodextrins

“…In recent years, biopolymers from renewable resources such as zein have gained attention for economical and environmental reasons (Paraman, & Lamsal, 2011;Selling, Woods, Sessa, & Biswas, 2008). Zein, the major protein of corn and a by-product of the bioethanol industry, is a non-toxic, biocompatible, biodegradable polymer and this polymer can form films.…”

Incorporating phenolic compounds opens a new perspective to use zein films as flexible bioactive packaging materials

“…Zein, a water insoluble hydrophobic storage protein found in corn and maize, attracts a particular interest as a biopolymer since it has good film forming properties, biodegradability and biocompatibility, and it is the major co-product of the oil industry and rapidly growing bioethanol industry (Selling, Woods, Sessa, & Biswas, 2008;Shukla & Cheryan, 2001;Wang et al, 2007;Zhang, Luo, & Wang, 2011). In foods, zein is applied mainly as a coating material for candies, fresh and dried fruits and nuts and used as an ingredient in chewing gum production (Bai, Alleyne, Hagenmaier, Mattheis, & Baldwin, 2003;Lai & Padua, 1997;Shukla & Cheryan, 2001).…”