Preparation and physicochemical effects of zein nanofiber membrane encapsulated with citral/HP-β-CD inclusion complex and its application on cheese

As a nutritious cold chain food , cheese is susceptible to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. In order to prevent and control Listeria monocytogenes in cheese safely and efficiently, maintain the sensory quality during sale, this paper developed a novel nanofiber membrane with good mechanical strength, hydrophobicity , thermal stability , release performance and bacteriostatic performance as food active packaging. In this study, zein was introduced and electrospun to form a reliable carrier to embed and deliver citral in the cavity of HP-β-CD (Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin). We found that the zein-based nanofiber membranes showed preferable tensile properties and hydrophobicity with 4% (w:v) addition of citral/HP-β-CD inclusion complex. Meanwhile, the thermal stability and release property of citral were significantly improved by embedding in HP-β-CD and loading into zein-base nanofiber membranes. Moreover, after packaged by Zein nanofiber membrane encapsulated with citral/HP-β-CD inclusion complex under the storage conditions of 4 °C and 12 °C, the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in four kinds of cheeses was inhibited to a certain degree. The texture and sensory quality of the four cheeses at the two temperatures and the color quality under the low temperature condition of 4 °C did not change significantly. In summary, Zein nanofiber membranes encapsulated with citral/HP-β-CD inclusion complex has potential application prospects in the field of food active packaging.