Synthesis of a Novel Chitosan/Basil Oil Blend and Development of Novel Low Density Poly Ethylene/Chitosan/Basil Oil Active Packaging Films Following a Melt-Extrusion Process for Enhancing Chicken Breast Fillets Shelf-Life

Abstract

An innovative process for the adsorption of the hydrophobic Basil-Oil (BO) into the hydrophilic food byproduct chitosan (CS) and the development of an advanced low-density polyethylene/chitosan/basil-oil (LDPE/CS_BO) active packaging film was investigated in this work. The idea of this study was the use of the BO as both a bioactive agent and a compatibilizer. The CS was modified to a CS_BO hydrophobic blend via a green evaporation/adsorption process. This blend was incorporated directly in the LDPE to produce films with advanced properties. All the obtained composite films exhibited improved packaging properties. The film with 10% CS_BO content exhibited the best packaging properties, i.e., 33.0% higher tensile stress, 31.0% higher water barrier, 54.3% higher oxygen barrier, and 12.3% higher antioxidant activity values compared to the corresponding values of the LDPE films. The lipid oxidation values of chicken breast fillets which were packaged under vacuum using this film were measured after seven and after fourteen days of storage. These values were found to be lower by around 41% and 45%, respectively, compared with the corresponding lipid oxidation values of pure LDPE film.

Antioxidant chitosan film containing lemongrass essential oil as active packaging for chicken patties

“…The incorporation of thyme oil in LDPE (low-density polyethylene) containing commercial organically modified montmorillonite reduced in 55% the lipid oxidation of chicken breast fillet vacuum packaged at 4°C, comparing to LDPE control film (Giannakas, 2020). The same behavior was verified by incorporating basil oil in LDPE-chitosan film (Giannakas et al, 2021).…”

Kiwi Fruits Preservation Using Novel Edible Active Coatings Based on Rich Thymol Halloysite Nanostructures and Chitosan/Polyvinyl Alcohol Gels

“…For the evaluation of the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of CS/PVOH/HNT and CS/PVOH/TO@HNT films, a hand-made apparatus was used according to the ASTM E96/E 96M-05 method [ 66 ]. According to the methodology described extensively in previous reports [ 17 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 66 ] experiments were carried out inside thermostated chamber at 38 °C and constant 95% RH. Water vapor transmission rate WVTR (g∙cm −2 ∙s −1 ) and water vapor diffusion coefficient D (cm 2 ∙s −1 ) were estimated according to Equations (2) and (3) respectively as they reported to number [ 50 ] referenced paper and based on the theory described in this paper [ 67 ].…”

“…Chitosan has been extensively studied as a promising biopolymer to be used in active packaging films, coatings, and other industrial applications due to its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Its poor mechanical properties can be enhanced by blending with other polymers [ 17 , 18 ] biopolymers [ 19 , 20 , 21 ] and/or incorporating nano-reinforcements such as nanoclays to give promising chitosan-based biopolymeric nanocomposite gels ready for film preparation [ 22 ]. Due to CS’s water swelling, it has lower water barrier properties than other packaging materials but is well known for its good gas barrier properties [ 23 ].…”

Effect of Copper and Titanium-Exchanged Montmorillonite Nanostructures on the Packaging Performance of Chitosan/Poly-Vinyl-Alcohol-Based Active Packaging Nanocomposite Films

“…Experiments were carried out at 38 °C and 50% RH. The methodology was described extensively in the literature [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. The 2.5 cm diameter and 0.09 mm average thickness film was placed on the top of a one-open end cylindrical tube made of plexiglass which contained dried silica gel inside and was sealed by a rubber O-ring.…”