Incorporation of hawthorn pectin/β-cyclodextrin-stabilized Pickering emulsion and Titanium dioxide nanoparticles for improving the physical, biological, and release properties of guar gum/agar/sodium alginate-based bilayer films

To develop natural and sustainable films with excellent physical, biological, and release properties for food packaging applications, a bilayer film based on guar gum/agar/sodium alginate/Litsea cubeba (Lour.) oil Pickering emulsion (LOPE)/titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2) was developed in this work. LOPE was herein prepared with hawthorn pectin/β-cyclodextrin complex particle as a stabilizer showed an average size of 0.961 μm and exhibited excellent physical stability. TiO2 can greatly strengthen the tensile strength and barrier properties of the films by increasing the crystallinity. LOPE can not only significantly improve the inhibition effect of the films on the growth of Penicillium citreoviride (Inhibition percentage = 85.08%) by allowing the slow-release of volatile Litsea cubeba oil to destroy the mycelial structure, also significantly increase the elongation at break of the film by 57.05%. Constructing a bilayer system containing LOPE and TiO2 was a desirable strategy for enhancing the properties of the films. As a proof of concept, cooked rice was utilized as experimental samples to investigate the impact of the film with TiO2/LOPE. Compared with the control, the TiO2/LOPE-rich bilayer film greatly reduced the total viable counts in cooked rice stored at 4℃ by 50.05%. This innovative film offers a cost-effective solution to effectively improve the quality and reduce mold infection in food.