Development of edible gelatin composite films enriched with polyphenol loaded nanoemulsions as chicken meat packaging material

In this study, food grade nanoemulsions (NEs) were prepared with polyphenols (curcumin, gallic acid and quercetin); NEs were incorporated into the film forming solution at various concentrations (5%, 10% and 20% v/w of gelatin plus carrageenan). Moisture content and water solubility of film samples decreased with increasing NE concentration. Curcumin NE-loaded gelatin composite films exhibited highest antioxidant activity (27.20 +/- 0.02, 45.9 +/- 0 and 60.51 +/- 0.36%) at 5%, 10% and 20% NE concentrations, respectively. Curcumin NE-loaded composite gelatin films also exhibited antimicrobial activity against both Salmonella typhimurium (6.97 +/- 0.03 mm) and Escherichia coli (7.47 +/- 0.09 mm). The chemical finger printing of films was evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Curcumin NE-loaded films showed excellent results by increasing the shelf-life of fresh broiler meat up to 17 days in comparison to control (10 days), hence can be used as alternative to conventional packaging.