Rhododendron arboreum flower extract-mediated chitosan films: Physicochemical and antioxidant properties

In this study, chitosan (CS)-mediated biopolymeric films were prepared via the solvent casting and solvent evaporation method along with the incorporation of Rhododendron arboreum flower extracts (RAFEs), glycerol and tween 80. In addition to the RAFEs, with and without cetrimide (as crosslinker) incorporated chitosan films were also prepared for comparative analysis of properties. Films of CS/glycerol/tween80 (CGT), CS/glycerol/tween80/cetrimide (CGTC), CS/glycerol/tween80/RAFEs (CGTR), and CS/glycerol/tween80/cetrimide/RAFEs (CGTCR) were prepared. The influence of film components on the prepared film's physical, structural, and antioxidant properties was analyzed using various specific characterization techniques, including FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, TGA and UV-Visible spectrophotometer based analysis. The overall experimental observations of this study inferred that RAFEs incorporation has excellent potential to develop biodegradable and antioxidant CS films for packaging applications. • Rhododendron arboretum flower extracts (RAFEs) incorporated chitosan-based films. • Effect of cross linker and RAFEs on physicochemical properties. • Thermal stability and antioxidant properties of the chitosan-based films.