1186632 - Fabrication and Characterization of Eco-Friendly Intelligent Packaging Film Produced from Agricultural Waste Extracts and Fishery Waste Chitosan (Student Poster #24)

Environmentally-friendly biodegradable intelligent packaging films have attracted increasing attention due to severe environmental pollution caused by petrochemical-based polymers and the raised concern of food safety. Meanwhile, the generation of huge amount of fishery waste (around eight million tons) from the aquaculture industry worldwide could also cause significant environmental issues. Chitosan (CTS), a non-toxic with biodegradable biopolymer, is deacetylated of chitin which is rich in fishery waste, i.e. shrimp shells. The key features of film formability, biocompatibility, biodegradability of chitosan are suitable for developing an eco-friendly biodegradable intelligent packaging film. In addition, the secondary processing of fruits has generated up to 132,513,000 metric tons of agro-residues per year worldwide, discarded without appropriate treatment. However, extracts of agricultural residues are potential sources of natural antioxidants antibacterial agents, especially phenolic compounds, which can extend the shelf-life of food. In Taiwan, up to 140,000 metric tons of lemon, passion fruit, and red dragon fruit produced annually and processed as juice. The waste peels are rich in phenolic compounds (such as proanthocyanins, flavonoids, and anthocyanins), which can be used as a food packaging additive. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an outstanding photocatalyst due to its photo-disinfection activity, high chemical/physical stability, cost efficiency, and environmentally friendly. This study aims on developing active food packaging film with lemon peel extract (LPE), passion fruit peel extract (PFPE), red dragon fruit peel extract (DFPE) and TiO2 into chitosan matrix. The active food packaging films was characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and then was evaluated for its enhancement of antioxidant and antimicrobial ability. Foodborne gram-positive bacteria, Listeria innocua, gram-negative bacteria, Serratia marcescens, were selected for antibacterial study. As to gain insight into the mechanism of disinfection, tools including SEM, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and atomic force microscope (AFM) were used for observing the morphologies of bacteria cells during disinfection process. The objective of the study: (1) To develop the optimal antioxidant and antibacterial ability extracting formula for fruit residues (LPE, PFPE, and DFPE); (2) To evaluate the characteristics, physical, functional properties, and optimal formula of environmentally friendly biodegradable intelligent packaging films (EFBIPFs); (3) To investigate the antibacterial mechanism of EFBIPFs; (4) To apply the EFBIPFs for fruits postharvest, seafood freshness monitoring, and meat preservation and real-time monitoring of the quality of fresh food. The utilization of such abundant agro-waste is a win-win strategy because it alleviates the waste problems and be used as an environmental-friendly photocatalyst.