Hydrophobic Enhancement of Carboxymethyl Cellulose Film Loaded With Litsea cubeba Essential Oil/Casein Nanoparticles by Polylactic Acid and Its Application in Meat Preservation

ABSTRACT The low hydrophobicity and antibacterial activity of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) film limit its application in food packaging. This study added casein nanoparticles loaded with Litsea cubeba essential oil and polylactic acid to CMC, and assembled a composite CMC film (LC/C‐P) by forming an emulsion system. The tensile strength, elongation at break, hydrophobicity and antibacterial activity of LC/C‐P films are significantly higher than those of CMC films. The incorporation of PLA into the CMC matrix increased the essential oil loading capacity and facilitated more controlled release compared with the CMC film without PLA. Meanwhile, compared with the layered assembled CMC polylactic acid bilayer film (LC/C‐PL), the LC/C‐P film formed by the emulsion system has better mechanical properties and hydrophobicity, and the preparation method is simpler. The application experiment results show that LC/C‐P film can significantly inhibit the growth of various foodborne pathogenic bacteria in fresh meat, and effectively extend its shelf life to 7 days, with excellent potential for food packaging applications.