National Engineering Laboratory for Clean Technology of Leather Manufacture, College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China.
Department of Burn and Plastic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610000, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Sep 11;16(36):48352-48362. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c10643. Epub 2024 Sep 2.
Chitosan-based biomass packaging materials are a promising material for food preservation, but their limited solubility, antioxidant capacity, UV resistance, and mechanical properties severely restrict their application. In this study, we developed a novel chitosan-based coating/packaging composite (QCTO) using quaternary ammonium salt and tannic acid (TA)-modified chitosan (QCS-TA) and oxidized chitosan (OCS). The introduction of quaternary ammonium salt and TA effectively improves the water solubility and antibacterial, antioxidant, and UV-resistant properties of chitosan. The Schiff-base bond formed between OCS and QCS-TA, along with the TA-mediated multiple interactions, conferred the prepared composite film with good mechanical properties (69.9 MPa tensile strength) and gas barrier performance to water (14.3 g·h·m) and oxygen (3.5 g·mm·m·h). Meanwhile, the prepared QCTO composites demonstrate excellent biocompatibility and safety and are applied as coatings for strawberries and bananas as well as packaging films for mushrooms. These preservation experiments demonstrated that the prepared composites are able to effectively reduce weight loss, prevent microbial growth, maintain color, and significantly prolong the shelf life of fresh products (bananas, strawberries, and mushrooms extended shelf life by 6, 5, and 6 days, respectively). Therefore, the developed QCTO coating/packaging film shows great potential for applications in the field of food preservation and packaging.
壳聚糖基生物质包装材料是一种有前途的食品保鲜材料，但它们的溶解度、抗氧化能力、耐紫外线能力和机械性能有限，严重限制了它们的应用。在这项研究中，我们使用季铵盐和单宁酸（TA）改性壳聚糖（QCS-TA）和氧化壳聚糖（OCS）开发了一种新型的壳聚糖基涂层/包装复合材料（QCTO）。季铵盐和 TA 的引入有效提高了壳聚糖的水溶性和抗菌、抗氧化和耐紫外线性能。OCS 和 QCS-TA 之间形成的席夫碱键以及 TA 介导的多种相互作用，赋予了所制备的复合膜良好的机械性能（拉伸强度为 69.9 MPa）和气体阻隔性能（水为 14.3 g·h·m，氧气为 3.5 g·mm·m·h）。同时，所制备的 QCTO 复合材料表现出良好的生物相容性和安全性，并被用作草莓和香蕉的涂层以及蘑菇的包装薄膜。这些保鲜实验表明，所制备的复合材料能够有效减少失重、抑制微生物生长、保持颜色，并显著延长新鲜产品的货架期（香蕉、草莓和蘑菇的货架期分别延长了 6、5 和 6 天）。因此，所开发的 QCTO 涂层/包装膜在食品保鲜和包装领域具有很大的应用潜力。
