Preparation of PLGA/ε-polylysine nanofibers and their application for pork preservation

As pork is susceptible to deterioration during production, transportation and marketing, the demand for shelf life extending is urgently desirable. In this work, electrospun poly (lactide–glycolide)/ε-polylysine (PLGA/ε-PL) fiber is developed for pork preservation. ε-PL is well-dispersed in PLGA/ε-PL fiber matrix by hydrogen bonding and its presence can improve the thermal stability. The morphology and size of PLGA/ε-PL fibers are ε-PL content dependent. The PLGA/ε-PL has excellent antibacterial activity towards S. aureus and E. coli, and S. aureus is more susceptible than E. coli. PLGA/ε-PL fiber has good biocompatibility and can prolong the shelf life of pork by 1 day at 25 °C. The PLGA/ε-PL fiber demonstrates great potential in food active packaging and the proposed strategy expand the application fields of ε-PL.