Liu Songqi, Luo Shiyuan, Li Yuanli, Zhang Huange, Yuan Zhihe, Shang Longchen, Deng Lingli
College of Biological and Food Engineering, Hubei Minzu University, Enshi 445000, China.
Foods. 2023 Jan 18;12(3):451. doi: 10.3390/foods12030451.
To develop biodegradable, sustainable, and environment-friendly functional food-packaging materials, gelatin/zein/glucose nanofibers were fabricated through air-assisted electrospinning and then crosslinked by the Maillard reaction under mild conditions (60 °C and 50% relative humidity) in this study. Compared to traditional electrospinning, air-assisted electrospinning increased the yield of nanofibers by 10 times, and the average diameter from 263 nm to 664 nm, while the airflow facilitated uniform and smooth nanofiber formation. During the Maillard reaction in 0-5 days, the gelatin/zein/glucose showed no morphology change. Fourier transform infrared spectra analysis indicated that gelatin interacted with zein through hydrogen bonding and the occurrence of the Maillard reaction among the protein and glucose molecules. After four days of Maillard reaction, the nanofibers presented higher thermal stability, the most hydrophobic surface (water contact angle: 133.6°), and stiffer network structure (elastic modulus of 38.63 MPa, tensile strength of 0.85 MPa). Overall, Maillard-reaction-crosslinked gelatin/zein/glucose nanofibers showed favorable physical properties, which suggests their potential for application in food-active packaging.
为开发可生物降解、可持续且环境友好的功能性食品包装材料，本研究通过空气辅助静电纺丝制备了明胶/玉米醇溶蛋白/葡萄糖纳米纤维，然后在温和条件（60℃和50%相对湿度）下通过美拉德反应进行交联。与传统静电纺丝相比，空气辅助静电纺丝使纳米纤维产量提高了10倍，平均直径从263nm增加到664nm，同时气流促进了纳米纤维均匀、光滑地形成。在美拉德反应的0至5天内，明胶/玉米醇溶蛋白/葡萄糖的形态没有变化。傅里叶变换红外光谱分析表明，明胶与玉米醇溶蛋白通过氢键相互作用，且蛋白质和葡萄糖分子之间发生了美拉德反应。经过四天的美拉德反应后，纳米纤维呈现出更高的热稳定性、最疏水的表面（水接触角：133.6°）和更坚硬的网络结构（弹性模量为38.63MPa，拉伸强度为0.85MPa）。总体而言，美拉德反应交联的明胶/玉米醇溶蛋白/葡萄糖纳米纤维表现出良好的物理性能，这表明它们在食品活性包装中的应用潜力。
