Enhanced antibacterial performance of gelatin/chitosan film containing capsaicin loaded MOFs for food packaging

The high demand for food safety and quality has stimulated the investigation of antibacterial packaging films based on natural biomaterials. Capsaicin, an effective extract of red chili, is thought to be a favorable antibacterial candidate in food packaging. Herein, FeIII doped hollow metal-organic frameworks (FeIII-HMOF-5) were prepared as promising nanocarriers for capsaicin and incorporated into gelatin/chitosan matrix to fabricate antibacterial packaging films. FeIII-HMOF-5 regulated the hydrophobicity of capsaicin and effectively solved the phase separation problem. The addition of capsaicin loaded FeIII-HMOF-5 into gelatin/chitosan film significantly improved the tensile strength, water vapor permeability and UV barrier properties. Moreover, Cap-FeIII-HMOF-5 endowed efficient antimicrobial activity against E. coli to gelatin/chitosan films by practical application on fresh apple cubes. The strategy proposed here provides an effective way to develop promising antibacterial biomaterials for food packaging.