Development of a bifunctional edible coating for formaldehyde scavenging and preservation of aquatic products.

Background Although the exogenous and endogenous formaldehyde in squid led to severe health threaten, in-depth study on natural edible scavengers for formaldehyde in squid was still lacking. Results Response surface methodology (RSM) combined with experimental verification approaches was applied to obtain an optimal "recipe" to achieve formaldehyde removal rate >85%: 6 mg/mL of tea polyphenols, 20 mg/mL of chitosan, 3:2 (V:V) of tea polyphenols and chitosan, 3 of pH and 60 min of treating time. Apart from the capability of removing formaldehyde, the scavenger derived from natural food exhibited significant preservation effect (extension of preservation time up to 40%) on squid during chilled storage process and was safe and environmentally friendly. Meanwhile, a synergetic effect of the two components on scavenging formaldehyde was unraveled by Multi-molecular infrared spectroscopy (MM-IR). Conclusion An edible and bifunctional reagent composed of tea polyphenols and chitosan were developed for simultaneously removing artificially added or endogenous formaldehyde and for preservation of squids. The bifunctional coating would be a promising formaldehyde scavenger and a green preservative for aquatic products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.