Rosehip (Rosa rugosa) seed essential oil-loaded polyvinyl alcohol/carboxymethyl cellulose biocomposites for active packaging applications.

This research focused on fabricating eco-conscious biocomposite films composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) incorporated with rosehip seed oil (RSO) for active packaging applications. The effects of RSO concentrations (1-5 %w/w) on the morphological, structural, mechanical, thermal, physical, optical and barrier properties as well as antioxidant and antibacterial features of the biocomposite films were systematically investigated. Scanning electron microscopy analysis demonstrated that the films' morphology could be tuned by varying RSO content, while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopyanalysis confirmed interactions between RSO and the polymer matrix. Moreover, the incorporation of RSO significantly influenced the mechanical properties increasing the tensile strength to 62.0 ± 5.2 MPa, while reducing the elongation at break to 5.2 ± 0.8 % at higher concentrations due to restricted chain mobility. The inclusion of RSO was observed to enhance the films' hydrophobicity, as well as their overall physical and optical characteristics. Oxygen and water vapor transmission rates decreased with RSO addition, whereas carbon dioxide transmission rate remained largely unchanged. In particular, the water vapor transmission rate was reduced from 1.31 g/m2·h in neat PVA films to 1.02 g/m2·h in PVA/CMC/5RSO film. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of the films increased markedly in a concentration-dependent manner, with moderate RSO incorporation providing effective radical scavenging, whereas neat films showed only minimal activity. Additionally, the active films demonstrated strong inhibition against gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) and moderate activity against gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli). Consequently, these innovative multicomponent film formulations were determined to be appropriate for deployment in active food packaging solutions.