Development of a hagfish skin gelatin film containing cinnamon bark essential oil

Hagfish skin, which is discarded before cooking the fish, can be used as a source of gelatin. In this study, hagfish skin gelatin (HSG) films containing cinnamon-bark essential oil (CBO) were developed as an active packaging material. The SDS-PAGE profile of HSG revealed bands of α and β chains at 130 and 250 kDa, respectively. The HSG films had 30.5 MPa of tensile strength (TS) and 9.18% of elongation at break (E). The addition of 1% CBO to the HSG films resulted in a decrease in the TS and an increase in the E. In addition, the contact angle of the HSG films were changed from 70.9 to 90.5° with the addition of CBO from 0 to 1%. In particular, the HSG films containing 1% CBO had antibacterial and antioxidant activities as well as suitable physical and water barrier properties. Therefore, HSG films containing 1% CBO can be used as food packaging materials to maintain the quality of foods by reducing the risk of microbial spoilage and lipid oxidation.