Antimicrobial biodegradable chitosan-based composite Nano-layers for food packaging.

Stable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) of size 80+/-11nm produced by chitosan (CH) mediated green synthesis were blended with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to form electrospun fibrous composite nano-layers (FCNLs). The chitosan acted as the stabilising as well as an antimicrobial agent in combination with the AgNPs which were characterised using UV-visible spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The crystallinity and chemical nature of the electrospun composite was characterised by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and FTIR spectroscopy, respectively, and its hydrophobicity was characterised by measuring the water contact angle. The electrospun composite showed effective antimicrobial activity against Listeria monocytogenes (gram +ve) and Escherichia coli (gram -ve) bacterial species. The electrospun composite, when tested as packaging material for meat, showed bio-activity and extended the meat shelf-life by one week. The electrospun nanocomposite is able to inhibit microbial degradation of packaged food and extend its keeping quality in an eco-friendly manner.