Gelatin-coated paper with antimicrobial and antioxidant effect for beef packaging

Abstract In the present work, raw paper sheets were coated with biopolymeric solutions based on gelatin crosslinked with transglutaminase enzyme, containing glycerol as plasticizer, and citric acid as antimicrobial and antioxidant agent, for packaging beef. Thickness, grammage and bulk density analysis have shown the effectiveness in forming the coating film, which was confirmed by morphological analysis. The biopolymeric coating did not show improvement in mechanical properties, but the water vapor permeability was significantly reduced while maintaining the original optical properties of the paper sheets. The beef packaged in the active papers shown a lower microbial population at the end of the four days of storage, and had greater stability to lipid oxidation during the entire period. The active papers sheets held the desirable red color and significantly lower pH values ​​compared with beef packaged in the uncoated control paper. The coated papers sheets still acted positively to prevent the loss of moisture from the beef to the environment.