Carbon dots embedded bacterial cellulose membrane as active packaging: Toxicity, in vitro release and application in...

Antimicrobial bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes incorporated with carbon dots (CDs) were developed to improve the shelf life and ensure the safety of minced beef during 9 days of storage at 4 °C. An ex-situ method was used to develop BC-CDs with different CDs loading capacities (16.50, 22.50, and 38.50 mg/cm³). Only BC-CDs_38.50 membrane exhibited toxicity in human embryonic kidney cells, and BC-CDs membranes had the slowest release rate of CDs in 95% ethanol. Significant differences were noted in the chemical and sensory attributes of samples packaged with BC-CDs_16.50 and BC-CDs_22.50, compared to the control. The microbial counts in samples with BC-CDs were significantly lower than those in samples with pristine BC membranes or the control. Notably, the BC-CDs_22.50 membrane exhibited a substantial reduction (4.7 log₁₀ CFU/g) in Escherichia coli counts by the end of storage. These findings highlight the potential of BC-CDs membranes as effective antimicrobial materials in meat packaging.