Development and characterization of capsaicin-enriched Dialdehyde starch-PVA films for antimicrobial food packaging

This work explored the polyvinyl alcohol/dialdehyde starch (DAS/PVA) films enriched by capsaicin (Cap) for use as antimicrobial and antioxidant food packaging. The microstructural, UV-shielding, antibacterial, mechanical and water barrier performances of dialdehyde starch/polyvinyl alcohol/capsaicin (DAS/PVA/Cap) films were comprehensively investigated. The results revealed that the capsaicin could be uniformly distributed into the DAS/PVA films to suppress bubble formation and enhance the tensile strength and the elongation at break (from 11.9 MPa to 17.27 MPa and from 269.7 MPa to 322.7 MPa). Moreover, the well distributed capsaicin endowed DAS/PVA film with excellent antimicrobial activity against both S. aureus (91.4 %) and E. coli (73.4 %). The developed DAS/PVA/Cap films were tested for packaging fresh-green grape to prevent microbial infection and prolong their shelf life. These results indicated that the capsaicin-enriched DAS/PVA films possess broad application prospects in fruit and vegetable packaging field.