JOURNAL HIGHLIGHTS BY STEVE RANGER
Researchers have looked at the potential for combining wheat starch and turmeric essential oil to develop active absorbent pads for fish fillets. Their study aimed to develop a water-absorbent and antioxidant cryogel to improve the shelf-life of food.
Cryogels have many applications in food packaging, thanks to their capability for water absorption, which can help to preserve food when incorporated into active food packaging.
Foods such as fish fillets contain a high moisture content, which can accumulate as water vapor and excess liquids within the packaging. This creates a moist, nutrient-rich environment, which can lead to the growth of microorganisms and trigger chemical reactions such as oxidation.
‘The ability to control moisture transfer within food packaging is key to significantly improving food quality and extending its shelf life. Thus, integrating specially designed moisture-absorbent pads for food packaging is an effective strategy for increasing the shelf life of food products,’ the researchers said in the paper published in SCI’s Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Incorporating bioactive compounds such as polyphenolic extracts or essential oils can also help to broaden the usefulness of cryogels.
The researchers in Brazil pointed to previous studies that have shown that turmeric essential oil has a broad spectrum of biological properties including antioxidant activity. They also noted it has potential as an insect repellent – a particularly interesting feature for applications in food packaging, which can be vulnerable to insect attack depending on the raw material being packaged. In this study, the researchers developed a turmeric essential oil-loaded wheat starch cryogel and tested its mechanical properties and performance.
‘This research successfully synthesised and characterised cryogels with high porosity, significant water absorption capacity, and demonstrable antioxidant activity,’ the paper said. The researchers said the effectiveness of the cryogels with turmeric essential oil as a packaging component is rooted in their unique macroporous structure, which ensures high performance in loading capacity, protection, and controlled release. ‘The production process creates an interconnected, rigid pore network that allows for the high physical entrapment of the hydrophobic essential oil, offering protection against environmental degradation compared to surface-loaded carriers,’ they said.
Turmeric essential oil-loaded wheat starch cryogels as superabsorbent pads for active packaging of fish fillets
Elder Pacheco da Cruz, Laura Martins Fonseca, Cristina Jansen, Rosane Lopes Crizel, Gabriel Lucas Pail, Camila de Oliveira Pacheco, Alvaro Renato Guerra Dias, Elessandra da Rosa Zavareze
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.70764
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