Development of Pleurocidin-poly(vinyl alcohol) electrospun antimicrobial nanofibers to retain antimicrobial activity in food system application

Pleurocidin is a novel antimicrobial peptide with advantages of broad microbial inhibition spectrum and thermal/pH/salt-tolerance. However, direct application of Pleurocidin into food systems caused its activity loss. This study aims to preserve the bioactivity of Pleurocidin in real foodstuffs by incorporating it in poly(vinyl alcohol) electrospun nanofiber. A pattern of sustained release of Pleurocidin from fiber, following initial burst release was successfully achieved, which could be tuned by varying environmental temperature. In vitro study clearly illustrated that Pleurocidin-incorporated fiber could efficiently inhibit foodborne pathogens. More importantly, released Pleurocidin showed higher inhibition efficiency than free Pleurocidin against Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a real food system apple cider, mainly due to the protection from negative influence of environmental components by polymeric fiber matrix. The maintenance of Pleurocidin activity suggests an extensively promising application of electrospinning technology in antimicrobial peptide immobilization towards improved food safety. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.