Novel pH-responsive indicator films based on bromothymol blue-anchored chitin for shrimp freshness monitoring

Danmin Yang; Qun Liu; Xu Zeng; Xiaoting Chen; Meng Li; Xialing Wu; Yue Liu; Yanzhen Zheng; Jionghua Xiang; Chunchun Wang; Wuyin Weng; Yucang Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127052

Novel pH-responsive indicator films based on bromothymol blue-anchored chitin for shrimp freshness monitoring

Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Dec 31;253(Pt 5):127052. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127052. Epub 2023 Sep 23.

Authors

Danmin Yang¹, Qun Liu², Xu Zeng³, Xiaoting Chen⁴, Meng Li¹, Xialing Wu¹, Yue Liu¹, Yanzhen Zheng¹, Jionghua Xiang¹, Chunchun Wang¹, Wuyin Weng¹, Yucang Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Ocean Food and Biological Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China.
² College of Ocean Food and Biological Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China. Electronic address: qunliu@jmu.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁴ College of Ocean Food and Biological Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China; Fisheries Research Institute of Fujian, Xiamen 361021, China.
⁵ College of Ocean Food and Biological Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China. Electronic address: yczhang@jmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37748590
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127052

Abstract

The cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) based pH-sensitive indicator films were developed by mixing guar gum (GG) with bromothymol blue-anchored chitin (BTB-Chitin) as an indicator to monitor shrimp freshness. The BTB-Chitin was prepared by grafting hydroxypropyltriethylamine groups (HPTA) to chitin first, then anchoring bromothymol blue (BTB) to prepare intelligent pH response BTB-Chitin. The 0.08 BTB-Chitin films had a good tensile strength of 11.76 MPa and the water contact angle values were 125°, which displayed obvious color response to pH buffers and acid base volatile gas. Besides, the homogeneous and flexible composite films showed good color stability and reversibility. The released amount of BTB was very low from the BTB-Chitin films in heptane and corn oil. The composite films had been degraded completely in 15 days in soil. The pH and volatile base nitrogen were measured to determine the degree decay of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), and the prepared pH-sensitive films changed from yellow (fresh) to cyan (spoiled) with the freshness of shrimp decreased, indicating the BTB-Chitin films could detect the shrimp freshness in real-time and high visibility.

Keywords: Bromothymol blue; Cellulose nanofibers; Guar gum; Reversibility; pH intelligent packaging.

MeSH terms

Anthocyanins
Bromthymol Blue*
Chitin*
Food Packaging
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Seafood

Substances

Bromthymol Blue
Chitin
Anthocyanins