Functional chitosan-based grapefruit seed extract composite films for applications in food packaging technology

• Chitosan-based grapefruit seed extract (GFSE) films were solution casted.
• GFSE was uniformly dispersed within all chitosan film matrices.
• All chitosan-based composite films showed remarkable transparency.
• Increasing amounts of GFSE incorporated increased the elongation at break of films.
• Chitosan-based GFSE composite films inhibited the proliferation of fungal growth.

Chitosan-based composite films with different amounts of grapefruit seed extract (GFSE) (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% v/v) were fabricated via solution casting technique. Experimental results showed that GFSE was uniformly dispersed within all chitosan film matrices. The presence of GFSE made the films more amorphous and tensile strength decreased, while elongation at break values increased as GFSE content increased. Results from the measurement of light transmission revealed that increasing amounts of GFSE (from 0.5 to 1.5% v/v) did not affect transparency of the films. Furthermore, packaging of bread samples with chitosan-based GFSE composite films inhibited the proliferation of fungal growth as compared to control samples. Hence, chitosan-based GFSE composite films have the potential to be a useful material in the area of food technology.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide