Chitosan, Poly(vinyl alcohol) and Chitosan/Poly(vinyl alcohol) based active films loaded with white turmeric powder for food packaging applications

In recent years packaging materials made of biodegradable polymers received considerable attention. The packaging system containing antimicrobial agents was one of the new methods that have an advantage over the conventional system. This work aims to fabricate and characterize antibacterial films based on chitosan (CS) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) incorporated with white turmeric powder (WT) for food packaging applications. The active films of chitosan/cetrimide/white turmeric (CCW), poly(vinyl alcohol)/cetrimide/white turmeric (PCW) and PVA/CS/CT/WT (PCCW) with varied concentrations of WT were prepared by solvent casting method. The influence of WT on the physical and structural properties of the prepared films were studied using different analytical techniques. The results of SEM analysis indicated interactions of polymer matrix with WT contributed to homogeneous, compact and smooth surface morphology. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed hydrogen bond formation with a polymer matrix that improved the physical and thermal properties. The research findings revealed that there was an improvement in the tensile strength, moisture adsorption, solubility and hydrophobicity of CCW active films with an increase in WT content. At the same time, there was an improvement in inhibiting bacterial growth with increasing concentration of WT for all the fabricated films. The results showed better mechanical and antibacterial properties for PCCW films. All the films exhibited biodegradation under environmental conditions. All these results suggested WT incorporated CS and PVA based films can be used in the food packaging industry to enhance the safety and quality of the packaging material.