Obtention and Study of Polyurethane-Based Active Packaging with Curcumin and/or Chitosan Additives for Fruits and Vegetables-Part I: Analysis of Morphological, Mechanical, Barrier, and Migration Properties

David Ruiz; Yomaira L Uscátegui; Luis Diaz; Rodinson R Arrieta-Pérez; José A Gómez-Tejedor; Manuel F Valero

doi:10.3390/polym15224456

Obtention and Study of Polyurethane-Based Active Packaging with Curcumin and/or Chitosan Additives for Fruits and Vegetables-Part I: Analysis of Morphological, Mechanical, Barrier, and Migration Properties

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Nov 18;15(22):4456. doi: 10.3390/polym15224456.

Authors

David Ruiz¹, Yomaira L Uscátegui¹, Luis Diaz², Rodinson R Arrieta-Pérez¹, José A Gómez-Tejedor^{3

4}, Manuel F Valero¹

Affiliations

¹ Energy, Materials and Environment Group GEMA, School of Engineering, Universidad de La Sabana, Campus del Puente del Común, Km. 7, Autopista Norte de Bogotá., Chía 140013, Colombia.
² Bioprospecting Research Group, School of Engineering, Universidad de La Sabana, Campus del Puente del Común, Km. 7, Autopista Norte de Bogotá., Chía 140013, Colombia.
³ Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
⁴ Biomedical Research Networking Centre in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), 46022 Valencia, Spain.

Abstract

Several polyurethane-formulated films with curcumin and/or chitosan additives for food packaging have been previously obtained. The study examines the effect of the additives on the film's morphological, mechanical, barrier, and migration properties. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water contact angle, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TGA and DTGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), oxygen transmission rate (OTR), water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), and the overall and specific migration tests were conducted. The results show that the presence of chitosan significantly increased the overall migration and mechanical properties, such as the elongation at break, tensile strength, and Young's modulus of most polyurethane formulations, while curcumin had a minor influence on the mechanical performance. Based on the results, formulations with curcumin but without chitosan are suitable for food packaging.

Keywords: chitosan; curcumin; food packaging; overall migration; oxygen transmission rate; polyurethane; water vapor transmission rate.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Universidad de La Sabana, grant number ING-289-2021. The APC was funded by Universidad de La Sabana and the Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering at Universitat Politècnica de València. CIBER-BBN, Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials, and Nano-medicine is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&I Plan 2008–2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program. CIBER Actions were financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. J.A.G.-T thanks MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 grant number PID2020-114894RB-I00.