Edible coating based on beeswax-in-water Pickering emulsion stabilized by cellulose nanofibrils and carboxymethyl chitosan

In this work, novel edible coating films based on beeswax-in-water (O/W) Pickering emulsions had been investigated. The Pickering emulsions were stabilized with cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs)/carboxymethyl chitosan (CCS). The emulsions with a droplet diameter of around 10 μm had uniform particle size distribution, and the creaming stability was improved with the increasing the contents of CNFs in the complexes, rheological analysis demonstrated that the Pickering emulsions had an elastic gel-like network. Furthermore, free-standing films were obtained when the emulsions were dried at ambient condition, the tensile strength of the coating films could be 5.0 MPa at a strain of 2.2%, and the water vapor permeability (WVP) value was lower than 2 × 10-7 g∙h-1∙m-1∙Pa-1. Moreover, the coating films could inhibit the growth of typical spoilage organisms such as S. aureus or E. coli, it indicated that the coatings films would have promising applications in antiseptic and fresh keeping for berry fruits.