Person:

MacQueen, Luke

Food waste and food safety motivate the need for improved food packaging solutions. However, current films/coatings addressing these issues are often limited by inefficient release dynamics that require large quantities of active ingredients. Here, we developed antimicrobial pullulan fiber (APFs) based packaging that are biodegradable and capable of wrapping food substrates, increasing their longevity and food safety. APFs were spun using a high-throughput system termed focused rotary jet spinning (FRJS) with water as the only solvent, allowing the incorporation of nature-derived antimicrobial agents. Using avocados as a representative example, we demonstrate that APF-coated samples had their shelf life extended by inhibited proliferation of natural microflora, as well as reduced weight loss compared to uncoated control samples. This work offers a promising technique to produce scalable, low cost and environmentally friendly biodegradable antimicrobial packaging systems.