Carbon dots embedded bacterial cellulose membrane as active packaging: Toxicity, in vitro release and application in minced beef packaging

Abstract

Antimicrobial bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes incorporated with carbon dots (CDs) were developed to improve the shelf life and ensure the safety of minced beef during 9 days of storage at 4 °C. An ex-situ method was used to develop BC-CDs with different CDs loading capacities (16.50, 22.50, and 38.50 mg/cm³). Only BC-CDs_38.50 membrane exhibited toxicity in human embryonic kidney cells, and BC-CDs membranes had the slowest release rate of CDs in 95% ethanol. Significant differences were noted in the chemical and sensory attributes of samples packaged with BC-CDs_16.50 and BC-CDs_22.50, compared to the control. The microbial counts in samples with BC-CDs were significantly lower than those in samples with pristine BC membranes or the control. Notably, the BC-CDs_22.50 membrane exhibited a substantial reduction (4.7 log₁₀ CFU/g) in Escherichia coli counts by the end of storage. These findings highlight the potential of BC-CDs membranes as effective antimicrobial materials in meat packaging.

Keywords: Active packaging; Antibacterial activity; Bacterial nanocellulose; Carbon quantum dots; Meat safety.