Electrospun octenylsuccinylated starch-pullulan nanofiber mats: Adsorption for the odor of oyster peptides and structural characterization

Oyster peptides usually have strong off-flavors, which seriously affect the acceptability and application of products. Electrospinning of three commercial octenylsuccinylated (OS) starches (Purity Gum Ultra (PGU), Hi-Cap 100 (HC100) and Purity Gum 2000 (PG2000)) and pullulan (PUL) may be a potential method of adsorbing the odor of oyster peptides, which is simple, green and sustainable. All the electrospun PUL-OS starch fiber mats had an excellent white appearance with smooth, continuous, bead-free and randomly oriented nanofibers (70–240 nm). The adsorption rates of PUL-PGU, PUL-HC100 and PUL-PG2000 nanofiber mats for the volatile compounds of oyster peptides were 50.58%, 34.36% and 20.88%, respectively, attributing to physical adsorption evidenced by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. A significant positive correlation was observed between the pore areas of nanofiber mats and the adsorption rates of acids and alkanes, which may be related to the formation of π-complexes on the nanofiber surface. For the first time, we demonstrated that the starch-based nanofiber mats prepared using a green process can improve the flavors of marine products.