Physicochemical Characterization, Molecular Modeling, and Applications of Carboxymethyl Chitosan-Based Multifunctional Films Combined with Gum Arabic and Anthocyanins

Novel pH and ammonia-sensitive intelligent film was fabricated with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as film-forming substrate, gum Arabic (GA) as enhancer, and anthocyanins from Cinnamomum camphora fruit peel waste (ANC.P) as indicator, antioxidant, and antimicrobial. The incorporation of ANC.P on CMC-GA (CG-ANC.P) film significantly increased the mechanical property, physical properties (swelling degree, moisture content, solubility, vapor barrier properties, and oil permeability resistance), color, opacity, morphological characteristics, melting, and bioactivities (antioxidant, antibacterial, biodegradable, and pH/ammonia-sensitive manners) without significant changes in the film thickness. Computational molecular imitation analysis suggested an enhancement between ANC.P, CMC, and GA through hydrogen bonds and forces of van der Waals. Notably, the smart packaging film was tested to monitor soybean oil freshness during storage at 50 °C for 28 days. Moreover, the shelf-life characteristics proved the ability of films to retard oil oxidation. Additionally, the sensory characteristics emphasize higher scores of colors, odor, and overall acceptability with the increased concentration of anthocyanin. When applied in monitoring beef freshness at 4 °C, the CG-ANC.P film indicated sensitively with vision recognizable color changes from original pink to pink-yellow and finally to grayish-yellow, which highly correlated with the deterioration indexes of the total color difference, pH value, and total viable count of beef.

Graphical Abstract