Improvement of the UV Barrier and Antibacterial Properties of Crosslinked Pectin/Zinc Oxide Bionanocomposite Films

Karina Dyasti Hari; Coralia V Garcia; Gye-Hwa Shin; Jun-Tae Kim

doi:10.3390/polym13152403

Improvement of the UV Barrier and Antibacterial Properties of Crosslinked Pectin/Zinc Oxide Bionanocomposite Films

Polymers (Basel). 2021 Jul 22;13(15):2403. doi: 10.3390/polym13152403.

Authors

Karina Dyasti Hari¹, Coralia V Garcia¹, Gye-Hwa Shin², Jun-Tae Kim¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Technology, Keimyung University, Daegu 42601, Korea.
² Department of Food and Nutrition, Kunsan National University, Gunsan 54150, Korea.

Abstract

Pectin-based antibacterial bionanocomposite films were prepared by crosslinking with calcium chloride (CaCl₂) and mixing with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) at various concentrations (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% w/w, based on pectin). Crosslinking with 1% CaCl₂ significantly (p < 0.05) improved the tensile strength of the pectin films, although their elongation at break was decreased. The UV-light barrier property of the pectin/ZnO bionanocomposite films was significantly (p < 0.05) improved with increasing ZnO-NP concentrations. In addition, the bionanocomposite films incorporating 1.5% ZnO-NPs showed excellent antibacterial effects against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, inhibiting over 99% of the bacteria. Therefore, the developed crosslinked pectin/ZnO bionanocomposite films show great potential as active packaging materials with excellent UV-blocking and antibacterial properties.

Keywords: antibacterial; bionanocomposite; crosslinking; pectin; zinc oxide.