Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Develops New Antioxidant Bio-Based Packaging Material
Recently, the Innovative Team for Meat Science and Nutritional Engineering at the Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, developed a new bio-based packaging material with excellent antioxidant properties, which can significantly extend the shelf life of fresh pork. The related research results were published in Food Chemistry.
This study used self-assembly technology to transform natural polyphenol quercetin from its poorly dispersed original state into nanocrystals, and introduced them as functional nano-fillers into a chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol composite matrix to enhance the overall performance of the material. Quercetin nanocrystals, as functional nano-fillers, not only significantly improved the mechanical properties of the chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol composite films, but also endowed the material with excellent antioxidant properties (increased by about 4 times). In addition, the thermal stability, ultraviolet shielding performance, and water vapor barrier performance of the composite films were also markedly enhanced. Preservation experiments showed that the shelf life of chilled pork packaged with this composite film could be extended to 11 days, demonstrating good application potential. This study provides a new strategy for constructing high-performance, functional bio-based packaging materials and has important significance for the further development and industrial application of fresh meat preservation materials.