Fabricating cellulose nanocrystals from passion fruit peel to enhance the properties of electrospun zein/poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibrous films

Passion fruit peel is a food by-product containing a large amount of cellulose. This study investigated the effect of extracted cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) from passion fruit peel on the properties of electrospun zein/poly (ethylene oxide) (OZP) nanofibrous films loaded with oregano essential oil (OEO). These nanofibrous films were active packaging for pork preservation, in which OEO was the antimicrobial substance, while zein and PEO were film matrix with electrospinnability and film-forming property. The newly sourced CNC had a rigid rod-like structure with a high aspect ratio (27.9), which indicated that CNC from passion fruit peel could reinforce the better properties of materials than the near-spherical CNC from other sources. CNC had the higher crystallinity (64.87 %) compared with that of passion fruit peel powder (PP, 27.31 %) and cellulose powder from peel (PPC, 48.83 %). After the addition of CNC to OZP films, the average diameter of the electrospun fibers increased, which also led to a decrease in porosity. Furthermore, CNC addition improved the embedding ratio of OEO and retarded its release from the electrospun nanofibrous films. In addition, OZP films incorporating CNC (C-OZP) exhibited a higher tensile strength and water vapor barrier because hydrogen bonding formed by CNC and films matrix provided nanofibrous films with a higher crystallinity. The 3 % C-OZP suppressed the increasing trend of TVB-N and TVC of chilled pork during storage and prolonged the shelf-life of pork from 5 to 7 d. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that CNC from passion fruit peel can enhance the properties of OZP electrospun nanofibrous films, which had the significant potential as an active food packaging material.