Active food packaging materials that are designed to interact with food can greatly contribute to food safety and prevent economic losses caused by spoilage of food products. Halloysite nanotubes/polyethylene (HNT/PE) nanocomposites will be presented as active food packaging materials that can release antibacterial agents to prevent bacterial spoilage and absorb ethylene gas secreted by fruits and vegetables to prevent spoilage caused by overripening. Halloysite nanotubes that are natural clay nanoparticles with hollow tubular structures were utilized as the active component enabling the antibacterial and ethylene scavenging behaviors. Antibacterial essential oil loaded HNTs were coated onto the surface polyethylene films resulting in sustained release of antibacterial agents and reduce the viability of <i>A. hydrophila</i> up to 90%. HNTs were furthermore shown to absorb ethylene gas with a capacity of up to 0.85wt% as determined by gravimetric analysis, which results in corresponding HNT/PE nanocomposite films with significantly higher ethylene scavenging capacity than neat PE films. Antibacterial and ethylene scavenging properties of HNT/PE nanocomposite films were also demonstrated on food samples. Growth of pathogenic bacteria on surfaces of chicken samples packaged with HNT/PE films were reduced compared to samples packaged with neat PE films. HNT/PE nanocomposite films were also shown to slow down the ripening of bananas and retain the hardness of tomatoes and strawberries for longer time than PE films.<br/> <br/>

Halloysite nanotube/polyethylene nanocomposites as multifunctional active food packaging materials

254th National Meeting (2017)

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