Improvement of Water Vapor Barrier Properties of Chitosan-Collagen Laminated Casings using Beeswax

Collagen casings are commercially used in sausage production. In this paper, collagen film that is used for sausage casings was laminated with chitosan film to produce barrier casing film. Chitosan coating was prepared by dissolving chitosan powder in 1% acetic acid. After dissolving chitosan, caraway essential oil, wetting agent Tween 20 and different amounts of beeswax, from 0 to 25 g were added to the solution. The solution was coated on collagen film surface in three layers, using a sponge brush to make laminated films. Films were air dried at temperature t = 23 °C ± 2 °C. Uncoated collagen film was used as reference. Film thickness, water vapor barrier properties and FTIR spectra were determined. With growing amount of beeswax added to the chitosan layer, film thickness grew from 112 µm for laminated film with 5 g of beeswax to 225 µm for film with 25 g of beeswax, compared to 83 µm for collagen film. Water vapor barrier properties improved with growing amount of beeswax in chitosan layer, ranging from 130.71 g/m224h for laminated film with added 5 g of beeswax to 66.96 g/m224h for the film with 25 g of beeswax, compared to 290.64 g/m224h for collagen film. Addition of beeswax showed great potential in lowering water vapor permeability of laminated collagen-chitosan film. FTIR spectra could be used to determine quantitative law dependency between added amount of beeswax and spectra absorption values,as well as to prove compactness of chitosan-beeswax layer

Antioxidative activity of chitosan and chitosan based biopolymer film

Growing consumer demand for the food without chemical preservatives focused significant extent of research in the direction of finding natural compounds that can be used in food preservation. In this context, natural substances with strong antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, like essential oils, as well as natural biopolymers, particularly draw attention. Natural biopolymers can serve as carriers of the active components, such as essential oils in order of their sustained release to the food during storage, and may themselves exhibit activity in protecting foods from oxidation and/or microbial spoilage. Chitosan has been extensively studied as semi-natural polymer with expressed bioactive properties. While antimicrobial activity of chitosan solution in different acids has been confirmed towards different bacteria, yeasts and moulds, reports concerning intensity, underlying machanism and different factors afecting antioxidant activity of chitosan vary through the available literature. This paper presents a review in the field of antioxidative activity of chitosan with different properties, as well as chitosan based biopolymer films in order to clarify this aspect of chitosan bioactivity and confront different reports found in the literature

Structural characterisation of starch based edible films with essential oil addition

Present study investigated structure of starch based edible films with essential oil addition. Films were obtained from water solutions containing gelatinized modified starch, polyol, guar-xantan gum modified mixture and essential oil by casting it on a Petri dish and evaporating at room temperature for 72h. Both, glycerol and guar-xantan modified mixture, had role to improve film flexibility and enable better film folding and handling. Two sample groups were obtained: starch based edible films with black cumin oil addition and starch based edible films with black pepper oil addition. Both essential oils were added in three different concentrations. Starch based edible film without essential oil addition was used as blank shot. Structural properties were determined by analyzing spectra obtained by FT-IR Spectrometer in the spectral range of 4000–400 cm−1 with a 4.0 cm−1 resolution. Software Omnic 8.1. and TQ Analyst were used to operate the FTIR spectrometer, collect and present all the data. Results pointed to quantitative law dependency between added amount of essential oils and spectra absorption values for both sample groups and FTIR spectra were used to calculate coefficient of correlation

EDIBLE FILMS AND COATINGS -SOURCES, PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION

ABSTRACT: In order to extend product shelf life while preserving the quality scientific attention focused to biopolymers research that are base for edible films and coatings production. Another major advantage of this kind of food packaging is their eco-friendly status because biopolymers do not cause environmental problems as packaging materials derived from non-renewable energy sources do. Objective of this work was to review recently studied edible films and coatings -their sources, properties and possible application. As sources for edible biopolymers were highlighted polysaccharides, proteins and lipids. The most characteristic subgroups from each large group of compounds were selected and described regarding possible physical and mechanical protection; migration, permeation, and barrier functions. The most important biopolymers characteristic is possibility to act as active substance carriers and to provide controlled release. In order to achieve active packaging functions emulsifiers, antioxidants and antimicrobial agents can also be incorporated into film-forming solutions in order to protect food products from oxidation and microbial spoilage, resulting in quality improvement and enhanced safety. The specific application where edible films and coatings have potential to replace some traditional polymer packaging are explained. It can be concluded that edible films and coatings must be chosen for food packaging purpose according to specific applications, the types of food products, and the major mechanisms of quality deterioration

Influence of storage period on properties of biopolymer packaging materials and pouches

Bilayer biodegradable films based on pumpkin oil cake (PuOC) and zein, as well as pouches made from these materials, were prepared, and the changes of their mechanical, physicochemical and barrier properties were analyzed during four weeks of storage. Heat seal quality of formed pouches and composition of the gas atmosphere in the pouches were also monitored. The results showed that the bilayer film had a thickness of 300 ± 10 (μm), and no its changes were observed during the storage time. The tensile strength of the tested film increased slightly in the third week, but the elongation at break showed a decreasing trend during the whole storage period. The decreases in the moisture content, total soluble matter and swelling of the obtained film, were also observed. After one month of storage, the O2 transmission rate of tested films, increased from 27 to 64 (ml/m2 24h 1 bar), and the CO2 gas transmission rate from 147 to 188 (ml/m2 24h 1 bar). The heat seal strength of the PuOC/Zein pouches decreased during the whole storage period. The percentage of O2 in PuOC/Zein pouches increased up to 7 times during the storage period; however, the percentage of CO2 decreased up to 18 times already after one week, and then remained stable in the rest of the storage period. These results are, to a smaller extent, due to the gas transmission rate through the material, especially for CO2 , and to a greater extent, due to the low heat seal strength, which decreased through the storage period, and probably influenced the content of the gases in the pouches.[Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 46010

Effect of chitosan-caraway coating on color stability and lipid oxidation of traditional dry fermented sausage

Chitosan, the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature, after cellulose, has been tested for numerous applications, among which for edible film and coating. Chitosan-based coating showed positive results for shelf life prolongation of meet products. In this paper, dry fermented sausage (Petrovská klobása) was coated with chitosan-caraway film. The effect of coating on the moisture content, color and lipid oxidation was investigated during a fivemonth period of storage. The moisture content decreased rapidly during the storage and the coating did not slow down the loss of moisture. The Lightness (L*) of the sausage surface increased by the coating application, while the redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) did not change. The coated sausages showed a better color stability of the sausage core through the storage time. Also, coated sausage showed a better oxidative stability till the 60th day of storage, while this difference was not detected at the end of the storage period. Apart from slowing down sausage drying during the storage, chitosan-caraway coating was effective in preserving the sausage quality. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR31032

Improvement of antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of chitosan film with caraway and oregano essential oils

In this work, caraway or oregano essential oils were added to the cast chitosan film in an attempt to design a natural, biodegradable, bioactive (antioxidant and antimicrobial) packaging film. When the structure of the tested films was analyzed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, no significant differences were found between the chitosan film with and without essential oils of caraway or oregano. The lowest antioxidant activity, based on the scavenging of the stable DPPH• free radical, was detected for the chitosan film without oil addition, going from 11.64%, after 2.5 h to 28.96%, after 24 h. When the caraway essential oil was added to the chitosan film, the antioxidant activity was increased (p<0.05) to 33.47±4.77%, after 2.5 h and to 81.08±0.64%, after 24 h. This increase in the antioxidant activity was even higher in the film with oregano essential oil (p<0.05). After 2.5 h, the value for the antioxidant activity of the chitosan-oregano film was 87.58±1.71%, and after 4 h and 24 h it was above 90%. The obtained results for the antimicrobial activity showed that the chitosan film is an effective antimicrobial agent against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. When caraway essential oil was added in 1% volume concentration to the film, no increase in the antimicrobial action of chitosan film was detected. On the other hand, the addition of oregano essential oil promoted chitosan film antimicrobial activity, which was particularly evident with Escherichia coli. The results showed that the chitosan film can be successfully applied as a matrix carrier for essential oils in the active film system.[ Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR31032