Properties Evaluation of Reinforced Chitosan-Modified Guar Gum Film Containing Rosemary Extract for Active Food Packaging

Packaging is important for the protection, storage, and hygienic handling of food as well as raw materials, particularly against oxidation and microbial spoilage. Land filling of non-degradable waste caused by plastic packaging of food is one of the most major challenges in the world, which the use of natural and degradable biopolymers, including polysaccharides, is recommended to overcome this problem. Chitosan is a polysaccharide utilized in the structure of biodegradable edible films. The main limitation associated with chitosan-based films is poor mechanical properties, high water solubility, and water vapor permeability. The objective of this study was to improve the physicochemical performance of chitosan-based films. Chitosan-based films were prepared with guar dialdehyde in various blending ratios. The FTIR spectrum of composite film displayed a peak at 1683 cm-1 which approved the successful covalent interaction between the amino groups of chitosan and the aldehyde groups of guar dialdehyde. The optimal chitosan-dialdehyde guar gum film had the lowest solubility (20.03 %), lowest water vapor permeability (3.07 Ð 10-10 gmm / hmm2Pa), and the highest tensile strength (48.05 MPa) compared with other films. Moreover, the diameters of the inhibition zones for the films containing 10% rosemary extract against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria were 12.75 ± 0.07, and 20.55 ± 0.21 mm, respectively. Therefore, the results showed that the developed chitosan- guar dialdehyde film containing rosemary extract can be considered as a suitable alternative in an active fresh food packaging systems.