Corn starch cryogels with orange peel essential oil: Influence of amylose content and application in Minas Frescal cheese.

Amylose content influences starch structure and its functional properties, including pasting, thermal behavior, crystallinity, and other physicochemical characteristics, which can affect the development of starch cryogels incorporated with orange peel essential oil (OPEO) as active systems for the preservation of Minas Frescal cheese, a fresh high-moisture product susceptible to microbial spoilage and quality deterioration. Thus, this study aimed to synthesize corn starch-based cryogels with different amylose contents (waxy, regular, Hylon V, and Hylon VII), incorporated with 10% (w/w) OPEO, and to evaluate their potential for application as dual-function active packaging in commercial Minas Frescal cheese. The OPEO showed significant antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium crustosum in the microatmosphere test. The cryogels showed high porosity (78.0-86.5%) and low density (0.089-0.152 g/cm3), typical of macroporous materials. Cryogels from starches with higher amylose content showed denser structure and lower porosity due to retrogradation. Regular starch cryogels showed the highest water absorption (1055%) and, due to their structural integrity, high porosity, low density, and lower syneresis, were selected for further structural characterization and application as active packaging. Regular starch cryogels showed a porous interconnected structure, and OPEO incorporation reduced pore size (201 to 128 μm). Crystallinity decreased from 28% to 5-6%. During 12 days at 4 °C, cryogels reduced molds and yeasts in cheese, without altering pH, acidity, or water activity, and absorbed up to 149% of exudate. Overall, they represent a promising bioactive matrix for active packaging of moist foods.