Abstract
Proteins, such as those in blood from slaughterhouses, are a good option for developing edible films. However, films made exclusively from proteins have low strength and high water solubility, which makes them difficult to use in the food industry. The use of cellulosic material, such as nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC), can improve the properties of these films. In the present work, bovine plasma was acidified and treated with ethanol to precipitate its proteins, and these proteins were used to prepare films reinforced with several concentrations of NFC. In addition, control films prepared with untreated bovine plasma and reinforced with NFC were prepared as well. These new edible films were characterized according to their mechanical properties, water vapor permeability, light transmittance, and microstructure. Furthermore, the film with the best properties was selected to be additivated with nisin to test its antimicrobial properties by wrapping meat previously contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. In this sense, films prepared with the extracted proteins showed better properties than the films prepared with untreated plasma. In addition, the results showed that the reinforcement of the films with a 10% (w/w) of NFC decreased their water solubility and improved their puncture strength and water vapor barrier properties. Finally, the addition of nisin to the films prepared with extracted protein from bovine plasma and NFC gave them antimicrobial properties against S. aureus.
Highlights
Nowadays, the use of traditional plastics as packaging material is being replaced by new biodegradable materials, as they are an environmentally friendly alternative [1]
The addition of nisin to the films prepared with extracted protein from bovine plasma and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) gave them antimicrobial properties against S. aureus
Films were prepared using protein extracted from acidified plasma treated with ethanol (FA) or lyophilized plasma (FL) in combination with NFC
Summary
The use of traditional plastics as packaging material is being replaced by new biodegradable materials, as they are an environmentally friendly alternative [1]. In spite of the fact that blood can be processed to generate high-added value food ingredients due to its outstanding functional properties, it is estimated that only 30% of the blood produced in slaughterhouses is employed as food ingredients, mostly as black pudding and similar food products [5]. In this sense, blood can be fractionated into plasma, which represents 65–70% of its content. The addition of this material to protein films has the potential to develop novel packaging that meets the requirements for a wide range of different food products. The films that showed the best properties were chosen to be additivated with nisin and their antimicrobial properties were tested by wrapping a piece of meat previously contaminated with a common food-borne pathogen such as Staphylococcus aureus
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