Cur@β-CD-mediated photodynamic antibacterial composite films for use in active food packaging

A robust organic Cur@β-CD composite photocatalyst was successfully synthesized. • A novel visible-light-driven antibacterial composite films were well fabricated. • Cur@β-CD markedly improved physicochemical properties of the as-prepared films. • The developed films significantly prolonged the storage shelf life of fresh bananas. Declining and unstable antibacterial activity restricts the application of packaging films. In this study, a curcumin/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex (Cur@β-CD, CβCD) with excellent photodynamic activity was synthesized and incorporated as a functional filler into chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (CS/PVA)-based composite films. The structural characteristics of CβCD were analyzed using FTIR and XRD, and the film morphology was observed using SEM. The physicochemical properties and photoresponsive antibacterial activities of the CβCD-CS/PVA films were investigated. Incorporating 15% CβCD improved the overall performance of the composite films. The tensile strength reached 13.87 MPa, and the water vapor permeability decreased to 1.34 × 10 −11  g m −1 ·s −1 ·Pa −1 . Under visible-light irradiation, the optimized photoresponsive film resulted in extremely low survival rates for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus . Furthermore, compared with the control, bananas packaged with the as-prepared active film exhibited a markedly longer shelf life. This study provides a feasible strategy for developing high-efficiency photoresponsive antibacterial packaging films. Download: Download high-res image (349KB) Download: Download full-size image