Fibrous membranes of poly(ethylene oxide)/Sesbania gum oxide/ε-poly(lysine): An influence on its structure

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was used to modify a natural polymer, sesbania gum (SG), to prepare oxidized sesbania gum (OSG) with the aim of investigating the physicochemical properties, antimicrobial activity of polyethylene oxide (PEO), OSG, and ε-poly(lysine) (ε-PL) composite fibre membranes and their applications in fresh-cut mango preservation. The PEO/OSG/ε-PL composite fibre membranes were successfully prepared via solution blow spinning (SBS) technology. The results of a series of characterizations revealed that ε-PL was successfully loaded into the fibrous membranes, exhibited good biocompatibility, and ε-PL was better encapsulated, with the membranes. The hydrophilicity, thermal stability, mechanical properties, and flexibility of the fibrous membranes were improved, and the water vapour transmission rate was reduced with the ε-PL content. In vitro bacterial inhibition experiments revealed that PEO/OSG/ε-PL fibre membranes with more than 2 wt% added ε-PL effectively inhibited the growth of E. coli and S. aureus. Fruit preservation experiments showed that PEO/OSG/ε-PL fibre membrane could reduce weight loss, inhibit microbial growth, and delay quality deterioration of fresh-cut mango. In addition, the PEO/OSG/ε-PL fibre membrane showed high biodegradability. These results show that the PEO/OSG/ε-PL composite fibre membrane prepared by SBS has application potential as an active packaging material.