Encapsulation of Thymol in Biodegradable Nanofiber via Coaxial Eletrospinning and Applications in Fruit Preservation

Abstract

The application of the nanofiber film in the field of food preservation was an emerging research direction in recent years. With the functionalization of nanofibers, the quality and safety of food can be better guaranteed. In the present work, thymol as an antibacterial agent was encapsulated into poly­(lactide-co-glycolide) to form core–shell nanofibers by coaxial electrospinning. With such a core–shell nanofiber film, thymol can be slowly released to headspace between food and the nanofiber film, inhibiting the growth of bacteria on the surface of food. The morphology and core–shell structure of nanofibers were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The antibacterial and fruit preservation abilities of the nanofiber film were tested on strawberries. Studies have shown that it can effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi, and yeast and extend the shelf life of fruit. This novel antibacterial packaging material with excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and good sustained release performance would have a broad application prospect in the field of food preservation.

Thymol-based Chitosan Nanogels Have Strong Antibacterial and Anti-biofilm Effects on Multidrug-resistant Pathogens

“…Previous studies have introduced drug release control agents in polymer nanoparticles diffusion and biodegradation and reported the rapid release of the drug in the early hours as an "explosion diffusion" [39]. The results of this study in line with previous studies indicate the explosive diffusion of encapsulated Thymol release [40]. Protein stability study showed that temperature as a destructive factor plays an important role in drug preservation [41].…”

Essential Oils-Loaded Electrospun Biopolymers: A Future Perspective for Active Food Packaging

“…Zhang et al encapsulated THY in poly(lactide-co-glycolide), PLGA fiber through core-shell coaxial electrospinning [166]. PLGA which is known for its biodegradability and controlled delivery properties [167] has the capability of encapsulating hydrophobic substances and had shown great potential in enhancing the efficiency of delivery in food systems [168,169].…”

The Relationships between the Working Fluids, Process Characteristics and Products from the Modified Coaxial Electrospinning of Zein

“…Over the past two decades, electrospinning has developed very rapidly, with potential applications of polymer nanofibers having been proposed in a myriad of scientific fields [28,29,30,31]. In addition, the simple single-fluid electrospinning process has advanced to two-fluid coaxial and side-by-side processes, and tri-fluid coaxial and combined coaxial/side-by-side processes.…”