Pinus Knraiensis Nut skin derived CNC reinforced antibacterial chitosan/gum arabic films incorporating Ocimum gratissimum L. essential oil for packaging beef

Natural polysaccharide-based film suffers lower strength which will further decrease by adding essential oil to endow antibacterial activity. Herein, cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) prepared from Pinus Knraiensis Nut skin (PKNS) was incorporated in gum arabic (GA)/chitosan (CS) composite film. PKNS CNC exhibited needle-like shape and higher stability due to zeta potential of lower than −30 mV. After it was added into GA/CS film, the biocompatibility among them was better and the strength, barrier to moisture and hydrophobicity of GA/CS film were improved. Ocimum gratissimum L. essential oil (OGEO) was blended in GA/CS/CNC film to access obvious antibacterial property against E. coli , Salmonella and S. aureus . Compared to Yanbian cattle beef without package and packed with GA/CS and GA/CS/CNC, that packaged by the antibacterial composite film showed the best quality recognized by the redder color, slowest improved pH value, lowest content of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and Total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N).