Effect of chitosan nanoparticles loaded with cinnamon essential oil on the quality of chilled pork

Abstract

Chitosan nanoparticles loaded with cinnamon essential oil (CE-NPs) exhibited the excellent antimicrobial and antioxidant property for the pork during refrigerated storage. In this study, CE-NPs with three sizes of 112nm, 215nm and 527nm were prepared by ionic gelification reaction. The loading capacity of cinnamon essential oil was improved with the mean diameter of CE-NPs increasing. The fresh pork was wrapped with the low density polyethylene (LDPE) films and the active films coated with different CE-NPs and displayed at 4°C for 15 day. The active films with 527nm CE-NPs led to a significant decrease of microbial growth, pH, peroxide value (POV), 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and sensory scores of the pork (P<0.05) than the other treatments at the end of storage. The 527nm-treated pork samples showed significantly highest redness (P<0.001) in all the four groups. In all, CE-NPs with the big size have more potential as a natural preservative to maintain the quality of meat and meat products.