Chitosan/pullulan based films incorporated with clove essential oil loaded chitosan-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles for active food packaging

Abstract Herein, we developed clove essential oil (CEO) loaded Chitosan-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles (CS–ZnO@CEO (CZC NPs)) integrated chitosan/pullulan (CS/PL) nanocomposite films. SEM images revealed a homogenous distribution of CZC NPs with minimum aggregation in nanocomposite films. The incorporation of CZC NPs led to enhanced tensile strength (~39.82%), film hydrophobicity (~35.36%), UV light blocking ability, water vapor barrier (~84.64%), and oxygen barrier (~57.66%) compared to the bare CS/PL film and overall migration limit of CPCZC films were found below the permitted limit of 1000 μg/dm2. Besides, incorporation of CZC NPs into the CS/PL films enhanced antioxidant activity and showed strong antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and E. coli. Also, the CPCZC films displayed potential to extend the shelf–life of chicken meat by up to 5 days when stored at 8 ± 2 °C. These results suggest that the prepared CPCZC films acquire the ideal prerequisites for potential active packaging materials.