Antifungal electrospinning nanofiber film incorporated with Zanthoxylum bungeanum essential oil for strawberry and sweet cherry preservation. (1st November 2022) - Zhang, Huan
Abstract: Given that the high incidences of fruit mildew especially for strawberry and cherry during storage, the green, edible, and antifungal package materials was greatly required to improve the shelf-life. Herein, an active package film encapsulating Zanthoxylum bungeanum essential oil (ZBEO, 10%) into polyvinyl alcohol/β-Cyclodextrin (PVA/β-CD, 6:1) nanofibers was fabricated via the electrospinning technology, based on the specific process optimization. ZBEO/Film composing of nanofibers (∼185 nm of average diameter) exhibited the adequate mechanical properties, in which tensile strength (TS), Young's modulus (YM), and elongation at break (EAB) were 10.69 ± 1.97 MPa, 58.27 ± 5.58%, and 268.64 ± 64.28 MPa, respectively, the higher water vapor permeability (34.9464 g mm/kPa∙m 2 ∙d), the high-water contact angle value at 104.7°. The significant antifungal activities of ZBEO/Films against Penicillium, Aspergillus flavus or Botrytis cinerea have been presented by vapor contact in vitro . Finally, after spreading on ZBEO/Films, both strawberries and cherries could keep fresh during 10 days of storage, compared to the severe mildew in other counterparts. Most importantly, these fruits treated with ZBEO/Films had the highest sensory scores. All these finding suggested that the developed electrospinning nanofiber ZBEO/Film would be a promising fruit packaging material with the anti-fungal and fresh-keeping advantages. Highlights: ZBEO/Film composing of PVA/β-CD complex was fabricated by electrospinning technology. ZBEO/Film containing nanofibers exhibited homogeneous morphology and mechanical properties. ZBEO/Film inhibited Botrytis cinerea, Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium by vapor contact. ZBEO/Film benefited the fresh keeping of strawberries and cherries as package materials.