Sustainable Novel Food Coating of Chitosan-Acetylated Gallic Acid Nanoparticles with Pulsed Light Treatment: A Promising Edible Food Preservative

Herein, the investigation demonstrates the first report on the use of a novel coat of chitosan-acetylated gallic acid nanoparticles (CAG-NPs) along with pulsed light treatment for food preservation with prolonged shelf life, maintaining good nutritional integrity in comparison to chitosan and chitosan-gallic acid nanoparticles or chitosan gallate (CG-NPs). Acetylation was made to overcome the high solubility problem of the CG-NP food coat, which was difficult for commercialization. A number of characterization techniques were used to confirm the structural integrity of CAG-NPs such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), dynamic light scattering (DLS), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The DPPH assay was performed to determine the remarkable 69% scavenging rate of the synthesized CAG-NPs. Antimicrobial activity was checked, and it was found that CAG-NP was highly efficient against food spoilage pathogens. Subsequently, the synergistic impact of the CAG-NP coat and pulsed light treatment was investigated, referring to papaya as the model food for its preservation. Nutritional analyses were conducted following standard protocols such as the phenol-sulfuric acid, biuret, and standard Soxhlet method followed by a rigorous statistical assessment involving Python3, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey tests to gauge the significance. Determination of physical and chemical qualities was conducted utilizing established protocols such as weight loss measurement, total soluble solids (TSSs), pH, and ascorbic acid content estimation method for finding the significance of the CAG-NP edible coat over others such as CG-NPs, chitosan along with or without pulsed light treatment. The CAG-NPs show an average diameter of 295 nm, confirmed by the DLS experimental data.