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Turmeric essential oil-loaded wheat starch cryogels as superabsorbent pads for active packaging of fish fillets
Elder Pacheco da Cruz1, Laura Martins Fonseca1, Cristina Jansen1
1Laboratory of Biopolymers and Nanotechnology in Food (BioNano), Graduate Program in Food Science and Technology, Department of Agro-industrial Science and Technology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
Background:
This study aimed to create a cryogel with water-absorbing and antioxidant properties. Wheat starch (10%, w/v) was used to produce cryogels, which were then incorporated with turmeric essential oil (TEO) at two concentrations: 20% and 30% (w/w of starch). The production method consisted of gelatinization, freeze/thaw cycles, and subsequent freeze-drying. The materials were applied as an absorbent pad for fish fillet exudate. The major compounds of TEO were ar-turmerone (43.60%) and α-turmerone (23.49%), characterized by gas chromatography.
Results:
The cryogels showed a porous structure, and the thermal stability of TEO was improved when entrapped in the materials. The mechanical properties reached 260.79 g for hardness, 0.90 for cohesiveness and 0.97 for springiness for the dried form. The cryogels displayed low density (approximately 0.110 g cm-3) and high porosity (85.97%), not differing among the formulations. The water absorption capacity was high, with the control (0% TEO) reaching 1026% and reducing for those with TEO to approximately 883%. Cryogels demonstrated a high TEO loading capacity, exceeding 90%. In vitro release showed that, after 2880 min, the 30% TEO cryogels released 22% of their content in a hydrophilic medium and a substantially higher 69% in a lipophilic medium. The cryogels with 30% TEO achieved an antioxidant activity of 48% for ABTS [i.e. 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] radical inhibition and 23% for DPPH (i.e. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical. When applied to fish fillets, after 7 days of storage, the cryogels maintained stable pH (6.06) and mass loss (5.6%) across treatments, at the same time as showing a comparable exudate absorption of approximately 35%.
Conclusion:
Exhibiting water-absorbing capacity, high loading capacity, controlled in vitro release, and antioxidant activity. The developed materials are promising three-dimensional materials for active food packaging applications in fish fillet preservation. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.
