Incorporation of cinnamon essential oil-loaded Pickering emulsion for improving antimicrobial properties and control release of chitosan/gelatin films

In this research, cinnamon essential oil (CEO) loaded Pickering emulsion was incorporated into chitosan (CS)/gelatin (GEL) complex films. These antimicrobial functionalizations of biobased packaging films containing different contents (5, 7.5, and 10 mL) of CEO-loaded Pickering emulsion were evaluated on the microstructure, physicochemical, mechanical, barrier and antimicrobial properties. CEO-loaded Pickering emulsion was herein prepared with zein nanoparticles as a stabilizer showed an average size of 113.37 nm and exhibited excellent physical stability. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) analyses revealed that the CEO-loaded Pickering emulsion showed compatibility with CS/GEL matrix. Not only mechanical properties but also barrier properties of the prepared films were significantly improved (P < 0.05) by incorporating CEO-loaded Pickering emulsion. Furthermore, incorporating CEO-loaded Pickering emulsion with CS/GEL led to the formation of high antimicrobial against Pseudomonad paralactis MN10 and Lactobacillus sakei VMR17 with slow-release behavior of CEO. These results suggested that Pickering emulsion is a promising antimicrobial agent delivery system for biopolymer based active packaging, notably for the conception of novel active packaging biobased polymers.