Bioactive Absorbent Chitosan Aerogels Reinforced with Bay Tree Pruning Waste Nanocellulose with Antioxidant Properties for Burger Meat Preservation

As a transition strategy towards sustainability, food packaging plays a crucial role in the current era. This, carried out in a biorefinery context of agricultural residues, involves not only obtaining desirable products but a comprehensive utilization of biomass that contributes to the circular bioeconomy. The present work proposes the preparation of bioactive absorbent food pads through a multi-product biorefinery approach from bay tree pruning waste (BTPW). In a first step, chitosan aerogels reinforced with lignocellulose and cellulose micro/nanofibers from BTPW were prepared, studying the effect of residual lignin on the material's properties. The presence of micro/nanofibers improved the mechanical performance (up to 60%) in addition to increasing the water uptake (42%) when lignin was present. The second step was to make them bioactive by incorporating bay leaf extract. The residual lignin in the micro/nanofibers was decisive, since when present, the release profiles of the extract were faster, reaching an antioxidant power of more than 85% after only 30 min. Finally, these bioactive aerogels were used as absorbent pads for fresh meat. With the use of the bioactive aerogels (with >= 2% extract), the meat remained fresh for 10 days as a result of delayed oxidation of the food during storage (20% metmyoglobin proportion).

Automated summary

As a transition strategy towards sustainability, food packaging plays a crucial role in the current era. This study proposes the preparation of bioactive absorbent food pads from bay tree pruning waste, contributing to the circular bioeconomy. The pads, made from chitosan aerogels reinforced with lignocellulose and cellulose micro/nanofibers, exhibit improved mechanical performance and water uptake in the presence of residual lignin. Incorporation of bay leaf extract enhances the bioactivity of these pads, delaying the oxidation of fresh meat during storage.