Active Biodegradable Films Based on Sweet Lime Peel Residue and Its Effect on Quality of Fish Fillets

Residual sweet lime peels after the extraction of essential oil by solvent free microwave extraction were used for developing biodegradable film. Glycerol as a plasticizer, soya lecithin as an emulsifier and sweet lime essential oil (0, 1, 2 and 3%) as an active agent was employed. Developed films were analyzed for their mechanical, barrier and antimicrobial properties. The films (with 3% essential oil) which reported highest antimicrobial property against E. coli (24.24 +/- 2.69 mm) were wrapped on fish fillet and stored at the refrigerated condition for 12 days. The quality of fish fillets was evaluated every 4 days and compared with polyethylene wrapped and control fish fillets. The active film wrapped sample showed less surface microbial count (3.28 +/- 0.16 log cfu/cm(2)) compared to polyethylene wrapped sample. The hardness values were increased during storage and cohesiveness and springiness of all wrapped samples decreased from day 0 to day 12.