Co-Electrospinning of Cellulose Acetate Loaded Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) Biopolymer Nanofibers with Thermoplastic Polyurethane to Improve Fish Fillet Packaging

This work focuses on the synthesis and analysis of new nanofiber composite packaging system with CA, PU and cranberry extract for fish fillet shelf life enhancement. Composites of nanofibers were produced from CA-PU via co-electrospinning and using different concentrations of cranberry extract (0, 100, and 150 mg/50 mL). The other observed composites were examined using FTIR spectroscopy, SEM analysis, TGA and mechanical test. Phenolic acids and flavonoids were found after analyzing the cranberry extract by high-performance liquid chromatography HPLC. The incorporation of cranberry extract improved thermal stability and antioxidant activity of the nanofiber while there were reasonable mechanical properties, elongation at break between 260-350%. The nanofiber composites had the best anti-biofilm effects on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and with the concentration of CA/PU/Cr150, its biofilm inhibitory percentage was 50% and 55% respectively. In this study, application of coating containing CA/PU/Cr150 on mullet fish fillets enhanced considerable sensing properties while maintained low pH, TVB-N and TBARS values compared with other coated samples (control, CA/PU only) during 25 days of storage. Based on these findings, cranberry loaded CA/PU nanofiber composite can be considered as an effective natural resource in the development of environmentally friendly nanofiber film for packaging application in retarded of shelf life and preservation of the quality of fish fillet.