Humidity-responsive smart active chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol) based membrane with cinnamaldehyde@halloysite...

As the ripening and spoilage of fruits is always associated with the humidity changes of storage microenvironment, developing humidity-responsive packaging to extend fruit shelf life is particularly meaningful and desirable. Herein, halloysite nanotubes loaded with cinnamaldehyde (CIN@HNTs, HC) is encapsulated in chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol) (CS/PVA) electrospun fiber to develop humidity-responsive smart active CS/PVA/HC membrane for strawberry preservation. The adsorption of CIN on HNTs is heat-absorbing physical monomolecular layer adsorption. In CS/PVA/HC, HC is hydrogen-bonded with CS/PVA and its presence improved the film's thermal stability and mechanical property. The release of CIN from CS/PVA/HC15 is mainly controlled by the swelling of HNTs and CS/PVA matrix induced by the increase of humidity. Owing to the slow and sustainable release of CIN, CS/PVA/HC15 exhibits antibacterial efficiency against Escherichia coli (E. coli) of 67.56 % and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) of 57.19 % besides 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity of 52.66 %. In practical application scenario, CS/PVA/HC15 can effectively extend strawberry shelf life by around 150 % at 25 °C, demonstrating its good application prospect in fruit preservation.