Development, characterization, and assessment of antioxidant pectin–sodium alginate based edible films incorporated with cassia essential oil

Summary This research was conducted in order to develop a sustainable and eco‐friendly pectin–sodium alginate‐based packaging material using natural additives. Cassia essential oil (CEO) is a GRAS‐approved natural preservative and flavouring agent used for a variety of food products. Recent reports revealed the growing interest in using oils in packaging material as natural additives. In the current study, CEO is loaded in pectin–sodium alginate‐based composite films. The main component observed in CEO was cinnamaldehyde which was evaluated by employing gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis. Moreover, the incorporation of CEO improved the tensile strength (TS) and elongation at break (EAB) and increased the opacity of the films. However, a decrease in the moisture content, water solubility and water vapour permeability was observed with the incorporation of EO. Additionally, SEM analysis of the CEO‐loaded films revealed an improvement in their morphology. The results of the DPPH and ABTS cation scavenging assays revealed a significant ( P ≤ 0.05) increase in antioxidant activity with the incorporation of CEO. These findings indicate that cassia essential oil can be employed as a natural additive to develop edible active packaging material.