Soft and elastic silver nanoparticle-cellulose sponge as fresh-keeping packaging to protect strawberries from physical damage and microbial invasion

Strawberry is a nutritious food that is susceptible to mechanical injury and microbiological infection. Traditional coatings for strawberry packaging provide resistance against microbial infection but not against mechanical damage. In this study, a soft and elastic cellulose sponge modified with silver nanoparticles ( [email protected] :1) was prepared as strawberry packaging material, and it provided effective protection against mechanical damage. In addition, after 1000 cyclic compression, [email protected] :1 presented only 16.80% unrecoverable deformation and still had elasticity, suggesting its fatigue resistance and durable protection for strawberry against damage caused by repeated vibrations during transportation. In addition, [email protected] :1 had good antibacterial ( E. coli and S. aureus ) and antifungal ( Rhizopus stolonifer ) abilities. The storage time of strawberries packaged by [email protected] :1 was extended to 12 days without microbial invasion. Thus, [email protected] :1 provided dual protection at the physical and microbial levels. This study proposes a new method for the preservation of strawberries based on the utilization of cellulose.