Fabrication and characterization of ethyl cellulose/Zein-based multifunctional composite film integrated with cinnamaldehyde-loaded Mg-gallic acid-MOF for pork preservation

With the escalating environmental impact of petroleum-based plastics, natural polysaccharide-protein composite films have demonstrated significant potential as eco-friendly materials for food packaging. However, research on integrating bioactive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with Zein-based matrices to develop multifunctional active packaging remains underexplored. This study developed a novel composite film by encapsulating cinnamaldehyde (CA) within a magnesium-gallic acid-MOF (Mg-GA-MOF) and incorporating it into an ethyl cellulose (EC)/Zein matrix for pork preservation. The optimized CA@Mg-GA-MOF/EC/Zein-4% film with a thickness of 0.14 mm demonstrated remarkable mechanical properties, including a tensile strength of 55.75 MPa and an elongation at break of 5.46%. It exhibited low water vapor permeability at 5.87 × 10 −7  g·m −1 ·s −1 ·Pa −1 . The film also showed strong antibacterial activity, inhibiting growth by up to 99.73% against Escherichia coli and 89.26% against Staphylococcus aureus , as well as notable antioxidant properties with DPPH and ABTS scavenging rates of 59.70% and 49.71%, respectively. Furthermore, the composite film demonstrated sustained release characteristics for CA and GA and excellent biocompatibility. Non-covalent interactions between the components contributed to the improvement of functional properties of the film. In pork preservation trials, the composite film effectively delayed microbial growth, protein degradation, and lipid oxidation. Based on the total viable count safety limit (6 log CFU/g, GB 4789.2–2016), the film extended the shelf life of pork by 7 days compared to the control group. This study presents the first use of Mg-GA-MOF for the co-delivery of CA and GA within the EC/Zein film, offering a novel strategy for high-performance active food packaging.