Electrospun wheat gluten/zein nanofibers co-loaded with ferulic acid and TiO2 as potential food active packaging.

Globally, about one-third of fruits and vegetables are wasted each year due to spoilage, with foodborne microbial contamination and ethylene attack being the main causes. Traditional petroleum-based preservation materials have poor antimicrobial effects, low ethylene scavenging rate, causing serious pollution to the environment. Therefore, we developed a green packaging material based on plant-based protein wheat gluten (WG)/zein nanofiber films (NFs) loaded with ferulic acid (FA) and TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) for antimicrobial and ethylene scavenging by electrospinning technology. The electrostatic interactions between proteins and TiO2 NPs during electrospinning formed with core-sheath structure WG/Zein-FA-TiO2 (WG/Zein@FT) nanofibers. The multilayered structure of the nanofibers enhanced the hydrophobicity, mechanical properties, thermal stability and antimicrobial activity of the WG/Zein@FT NFs. Furthermore, bananas accompanied by WG/Zein@FT NFs exhibited higher firmness and lower browning rates after 12 days of preservation. The above results demonstrated that WG/Zein@FT NFs prepared in this work are promising candidates for food active packaging.