Effects of Incorporation of Multicomponent Active Agents in Chitosan Biopolymer: A Simple Method for Sustainable Food Packaging

Chitosan-gelatin (Ch-ge) based transparent films containing gallic-acid (GA) grafted starch nanoparticles (GA-SNPs) namely, Ch-ge-GA-SNP-1 and Ch-ge-GA-SNP-2 with different amounts of GA-SNPs have been synthesized by solution casting method and characterized. The incorporation of multicomponents showed effective properties of chitosan films. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), XRD and FTIR analysis revealed a homogenous and transparent nature and uniform distribution of the newly synthesized films respectively. The antibacterial activity of the films against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (B. substilis and E. coli) indicated that Ch-ge-GA-SNP-2 films had pronounced antibacterial activity. The antioxidant activity of Ch-ge-GA-SNP-2 films was determined by DPPH and ABTS methods and results corresponded to 80.9% of DPPH and 84.9% of ABTS free radicals scavenging activities. The results indicated that Ch-ge-GA-SNP-2 films present a definitive advantage in terms of their barrier properties, mechanical strength as well as antibacterial and anti-oxidant activity compared to pristine chitosan-gelatin films.