Effect of electrospun montmorillonite-nylon 6 nanofibrous membrane coated packaging on potato chips and bread

• Has been reported for the first time for food packaging applications
• Provided high barrier properties against oxygen and moisture
• Packaging reduced moisture absorption and lipid peroxidation in potato chips.
• Led to extension of shelf life of bread by 2 days
• Can find wide applications in food packaging industry

Electrospinning technique was used to deposit montmorillonite composite nylon 6 (MMT-N6) nanofibres over polypropylene films. The poor intrinsic Oxygen Transfer Rate (OTR) of polypropylene of 963 cm3/m2/24 h increased to 35 on N6 coating, but significantly increased to 12.5 by coating with montmorinollite incorporated N6. In comparison the Moisture Vapour Transfer Rate (MVTR) of polypropylene of 11.6 g/m2 24 h was not improved by N6 coating (15.5 g/m2 24 h) but slightly improved on incorporating the clay to N6 (8.4 g/m2 24 h).The effect of packaging of potato chips and bread in Test(MMT-N6) and control(polypropylene) was studied. The malondialdehyde levels in potato chips increased by 0.15 in test to 0.95 μM g− 1 in control packets suggesting lower rancidity of chips in test packets due to less oxygen permeability. Reduction in moisture absorption was 2% in test packets. The shelf life of bread packed in test films increased by 2 days due to inhibition of microbial growth. These effects could be attributed to the improved oxygen and moisture permeability barrier conferred by montmorillonite clay incorporation in the N6 membranes. This is the first report on use of MMT-N6 nanofibrous membrane coating on polypropylene films to extend the shelf life of the food products by preventing lipid peroxidation and microbial growth by reducing oxygen and moisture transfer.Industrial relevanceAchieving high barrier properties of packaging films is one of the prime goals of food packaging industries for providing longer shelf life to the food product. This study shows an application of electrospinning technique to prepare nanoclay composite fibres coated packaging films having high barrier properties against oxygen and moisture. Application of electrospinning technique provides many advantages for food packaging industry like a very low amount of raw material is required to make uniform coating on substrate, provides choice of wide variety of food grade polymers to prepare composite fibres for various packaging applications, and very simple technique to apply nano range thick coating on the surface of conventional packaging films, which can be exploited in food packaging industry. This study is the first report on application of nanoclay composite fibres for packaging of most commonly consumed food products like potato chips and bread. Potato chips and bread are the prime food products consumed globally and forms major market for packaging industry. Any packaging solution for extension of shelf life of such food products has high significance for food industry.