Using rice straw fractions to develop reinforced, active PLA-starch bilayers for meat preservation

Bilayers from thermoplastic corn starch (TPS) and PLA were obtained, incorporating or not rice straw (RS) valorised fractions: active extract (es) into PLA and cellulose fibres (cf) into TPS films. The films were obtained by thermoprocessing while the bilayers were obtained by thermocompression of the different monolayers (TPS-PLA, TPScf-PLA, TPS-PLAes and TPScf-PLAes). TPS conferred oxygen barrier capacity to the laminates, which was improved by the cf incorporation. The extract slightly reduced the PLA resistance but improved their oxygen barrier capacity. The tensile and barrier properties of the bilayers revealed changes in the performance of each layer associated with the interlayer compound migration. The TPScf-PLAes bags exhibited noticeable antioxidant capacity when used in meat packaging and reduced microbial counts throughout cold storage. Therefore, these bilayers have considerable potential to extend the shelf-life of meat samples, preserving their quality and safety for longer, while using RS fractions permits its valorisation.