Antibacterial nanofibrous film encapsulated with 4-terpineol/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes: Relative humidity-triggered release and shrimps preservation application

Antibacterial active packaging enables extensive biological effects to improve food safety. However, it still remains difficult to achieve controlled and precise release of bioactive compounds to the specific target location with required quantity in food packaging applications. Here, a novel relative humidity (RH) - responsive polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan (PVA/CS) composite nanofibrous film incorporated with 4-terpineol/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (4-TA@β-CD ICs) was engineered by electrospinning that can be exploited as a functional packaging materials. The characterization results showed the thermal stability of the films was enhanced after the incorporation due to the hydrogen bonds between ICs and biopolymers. Besides, the 4 wt% 4-TA@β-CD ICs/PVA/CS film exhibited optimized morphology, crystallinity, mechanical properties, and water vapor permeability. The incorporation of ICs dramatically promoted the antioxidant and inhibition activity of the film especially towards Shewanella putrefaciens. Moreover, the release behavior of 4-TA indicated that high RH accelerated the releasing rate, and the film obtained a sustained-release effect. Finally, the film with long-term antibacterial effectiveness succeeded in extending the shelf life of Litopenaeus vannamei shrimps by an additional 2 days at 4°C. This work developed a RH-responsive release packaging material, which may serve as an effective active food packaging.