Antimicrobial food packaging application of angelica root (Angelica sylvestris) oil-loaded electrospun biofibers

Abstract

The natural polymer-based electrospun fibers and fibrous mats have sparked a lot of interest in both academic and industry, and they are being used in a wide range of applications including food packaging and coating due to their biocompatibility, edibility, hydrophilicity, and nontoxicity nature. Encapsulating medicinal and aromatic plant (MAP) extracts into biofibers is a viable method for obtaining desirable biofiber properties for edible food packaging (EFP) applications. Here, angelica root (Angelica sylvestris) oil (ARO) was encapsulated into a Zein/Hyaluronic Acid/Gelatin based biofiber using an emulsion electrospinning process to fabricate EFP materials. First, volatile compounds in ARO were identified using GC/MS. It was found that fatty acid esters are the major compounds in ARO and; eucalyptol, iso-psoralen and thymol are other volatile compounds. The conductivity and viscosity of as-prepared emulsion were investigated. Then, morphology, and chemical properties of electrospun biofibers were studied using SEM and FT-IR, respectively. Then, their mechanical and antimicrobial characteristics were analyzed. Although the inhibition of ARO on bacteria differed according to the gram (G) characteristics of bacteria, inhibition of biofibers on bacteria was observed only when the amount of ARO in the biofiber was increased to 20%. Release kinetic models of eucalyptol and thymol, major essential oil components of angelica root oil, were also studied. Experimental data were fitted to different models, and it was found that thymol and eucalyptol release followed the Fickian, and non-Fickian models, respectively. Therefore, ARO loaded fibers have the potential to be an EFP material with their antimicrobial and mechanical properties.