Multifunctional fibrous films fabricated by microfluidic blow spinning for the preservation of fresh-cut apples

Abstract

Fresh-cut apples are very popular with consumers. Controlling browning and microbial infestation in fresh-cut apples helps extend their shelf life. Micro-nano-fibers have high porosity and high specific surface area, which means they can load and release active substances more efficiently, thus potentially reducing the amount of active substances used to maintain fruit quality and providing sustained release throughout storage. In this work, multifunctional fibrous films were rapidly fabricated by microfluidic blow spinning (MBS) for the fresh-cut apple preservation. The morphology results displayed that the natamycin-loaded fibers exhibited a smooth and homogeneous microstructure with an average diameter between 1.0 and 1.3 µm. A series of characterization results indicated that natamycin was successfully loaded into the fibrous films and the thermal stability and hydrophobicity were improved with increasing natamycin content. The natamycin-loaded fibrous films exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against Botrytis cinerea. After further addition of ascorbic acid, the prepared multifunctional fibrous films could notably inhibit the fresh-cut apple browning. Metabolomics analysis demonstrated that the films inhibited browning of the fresh-cut apple by reducing the oxidation of the phenolic compound. The above results suggest that the multifunctional fibrous film fabricated by MBS possesses potential for fresh-cut apple preservation.