Essential Oil Loaded Electrospun Membrane—A Potential Sprout Suppressant

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the development of nanofibrous mats incorporated with essential oils (EOs) for application as active food packaging materials. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polystyrene (PS) were employed as hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer matrices, respectively. The electrospinning process of both the polymers was carried out, and the essential oils were passively loaded into the polymer matrix to check the effectiveness of EO loading. PVA was found to be an ideal medium for essential oil encapsulation as the addition of essential oil resulted in structural disruption of the PS nanofiber matrix. The effectiveness of different oil loading techniques, specifically active and passive loading, was studied by the incorporation of essential oils pre‐ and post‐electrospinning, respectively. Active loading was proven to be the most effective technique for the nanoencapsulation of EOs as the EOs were encapsulated into the nanofiber, achieving a more sustained release. The shelf‐life study was performed using potato as the test substrate, and the physicochemical parameters were studied for 30 days until there was appearance of visible sprouts in the control sample. The % weight loss at the end of 30 days in the test sample was 2% whereas in the control sample, it was around 4.5%. There was initially a significant difference in the TSS value till the 6th day, after which a significant difference was observed only at the end of the study ( p > 0.05). The antimicrobial property was studied at an interval of 5 days until uncountable growth was observed, and the sprout inhibition activity was studied at an interval of 3 days until sprout growth appeared in the sample stored with nanofiber.