Physicochemical and antimicrobial properties of soy protein isolate films incorporating high internal phase emulsion loaded with thymol

Oil-in-water (O/W) high internal phase (HIP) emulsion was prepared to investigate its effects on the physicochemical properties and antimicrobial properties of soy protein isolate (SPI)-based films. The particle size and migration degree of oil droplets in the SPI film-forming solution with HIP emulsion and the films were lower than those with conventional O/W emulsion or oil. The SPI-based emulsion films with HIP emulsion containing 30 % oil had the lowest water vapor permeability (1.15 × 10 −10 g·m −1 ·s −1 ·Pa −1 ), glass transition temperature (40.93 °C) and tensile strength (4.47 MPa), and the highest transparency value (12.87) and elongation at break (160.83 %). The antimicrobial test of the SPI-based emulsion films loaded with thymol showed that the thymol encapsulation efficiency, sustained release effect, and growth inhibition effect on microbes were higher for the films with HIP emulsion than those for the films with O/W emulsion or oil.