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Updated: Feb 2, 2026
Author Spotlight: Metallic Nanocomposites to Eliminate Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Published on: October 4, 2024
Development and evaluation of antibacterial electrospun pea protein isolate-polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposite mats
Neda Maftoonazad1, Maryam Shahamirian2, Dalia John3
1Agricultural Engineering Research Department, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Shiraz, Iran; Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste Anne de Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada.
Abstract:
Electrospun film is developed from an electrically charged ultrafine jet of a polymer solution or melt as a matrix of thin/nano fibers struck on to a target surface. The objective of this work was to obtain homogeneous nanofibers from pea protein isolate (PPI) in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by hybrid electrospinning as well as incorporating cinnamaldehyde (CA) into the matrix to obtain an antibacterial mat. The effect of processing conditions, pH, polymer and CA concentrations on formulation properties and nanofiber morphology were investigated and the mats were visualized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Rheological evaluation indicated a pseudoplastic behavior for all formulations. Alkaline pH formulation led to a decreasing apparent viscosity and an increasing electrical conductivity resulting in the formation of more homogeneous fibers. The 50:50 mass percentage ratio of PPI/PVA solutions produced homogeneous nanofibers with the average fiber diameter of 485 ± 85 nm. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed uniform dispersion of PPI and PVA. The minimum concentration of CA to inhibit both Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria was 1%. The average diameter of nanofibers decreased from 257 ± 51 nm to 219 ± 31 nm by increasing CA content from 0.25 to 1.5%.
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