Fabrication of antimicrobial edible films from chitosan incorporated with guava leaf extract

With the aim of ramping up the production of edible films that are both environmentally friendly and antibacterial for packaging applications, we researched biofilms and evaluated the extract incorporation on the antioxidant, antibacterial, and physical properties based on a blend of chitosan (CS), guava leaf extract (GLE), and glycerol for the first time. This study used the casting technique to produce chitosan-based films, and guava leaf extract was prepared at different concentrations (0–3 %). Cross-section morphologies, film's thickness, the functional group interaction between chitosan, glycerol, and guava leaf extract, thermal behaviours of chitosan films comprised of DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) and TGA (thermogravimetric analysis), mechanical and physiochemical properties including tensile strength and elongation at break, optical, moisture content, water permeability, coating as well as biodegradation were employed in this research. The results showed that the antioxidant properties of the films improved when increasing the concentration of GLE. Likewise, increasing the concentration of GLE also lead to improvement in the biodegradation of chitosan-based films. Among these films, the scavenging activity of C2G35E2.0 (84.59 ± 0.73 %) was two times as much as the control chitosan film (45.33 ± 1.14 %). Moreover, C2G35E2.0 had the highest tensile strength (26.97 ± 0.46 MPa), elongation at break (42.18 ± 1.35 %), and the smoothest surface in SEM images. Due to these combined properties, the produced blend films containing guava leaf extracts are suitable candidates for edible and eco-friendly packaging applications, as they may keep fruits fresher in an eco-friendly, sustainable manner.