Active intelligent packaging strategy integrating antibacterial and freshness monitoring functions for beef preservation

The development of active intelligent packaging technologies that can simultaneously extend food shelf life and monitor food quality holds immense significance in the modern food preservation field. Herein, we successfully fabricated an antibacterial film and a freshness indicator tag by utilizing polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan (PVA/CS) solution as the film-forming matrix and incorporating antibacterial material copper oxidized tannic acid quinone (CuTAQ) and purple sweet potato anthocyanin, respectively. The results indicated that the incorporation of chitosan and CuTAQ significantly enhanced the mechanical strength, UV shielding ability, gas barrier properties, waterproof performance, and antibacterial efficacy of the film. And almost all S. aureus and E. coli were killed after 60 min of contact with the film, showing broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties. Experiments on beef preservation showed that the antimicrobial film exhibited remarkable preservative effects, and the shelf life of beef at 25 °C and 4 °C was extended to 48 h and 8 days, respectively, with good preservation of sensory quality. Meanwhile, the color change of this indicator label effectively monitors and responds to the freshness of the beef during storage. The proposed study offers a potential approach to smart monitoring by employing indicator labels integrated with antimicrobial film in food packaging, a strategy aimed at reducing preparation costs while concurrently providing a potential approach to enhancing the adoption of smart packaging loading.