Fish Gelatin Antimicrobial Electrospun Nanofibers for Active Food-Packaging Applications

Abstract

A protein-based electrospun nanofiber from cold water fish gelatin (FG) including bovine lactoferrin (L) as an antimicrobial substance for food packaging applications was developed. Various amounts of L (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%) were incorporated into FG electrospun nanofibers in order to test antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method against Pseudomonas fluorescens, Acinetobacter johnsonii, Aeromonas hydrophila, Flavobacterium psychrophilum, Shewanella putrefaciens, and Escherichia coli commonly cause problems in food safety especially in fish products. It was obviously seen that 15% and 20% wt L incorporated FG electrospun nanofibers had significant inhibition zone against all bacterial strains while 5% and 10% L-FG had lower antimicrobial effects. In order to recommend fish gelatin as a food packaging material, mechanical properties should be enhanced to be competitive with synthetic polymers. It was revealed that mechanical strength of gelatin electrospun nanofibers depended on both fiber morphology and bioactive substance content. Neat FG (N-FG ) bead-free electrospun mats had higher fiber diameter (815 ±40 nm) while 15% and 20% L-FG had relatively lower diameter with beaded morphology, i.e., 348 ±32 nm, 229 ± 44 nm respectively. The tensile strength of 20% L-FG mats was significantly lower than the N-FG mats due to beady and thinner morphology. It can be concluded that L-FG electrospun nanofibers with high antimicrobial activity and improvable tensile strength is promising for active packaging applications.Keywords: Electrospinning, Pseudomonas spp., Escherichia coli, Shewanella spp., biodegradable, active packaging