Fabrication, characterization, and in vitro digestion of gelatin/gluten oleogels from thermally crosslinked electrospun short fiber aerogel templates.

In this work, the electrospun short fiber-based oleogels (ESFO) were formed by thermal crosslinking. Gelatin and gluten nanofibers were obtained via electrospinning, then homogenized and transformed into short fiber dispersions. Through freeze-drying, electrospun short fiber-based aerogel (ESF-A) templates were obtained for oil adsorption. All ESF-A exhibited the micromorphology of loose fibrous pore structure and prominent changes of characteristic peaks in the thermal and infrared analyses. Moreover, the highly crosslinked templates owned excellent hydrophobicity and mechanical performances (elastic modulus: 0.25 kPa, yield strength: 14.56 kPa, compressive strength: 52.54 kPa, and the final compression recovery: 91.27%). Meanwhile, the oil adsorption/oil holding capacity could reach 76.56 g/g and 80.04%, respectively. Through thermal crosslinking, ESF-O presented good and controllable rheological/in vitro digestion properties, which were further confirmed by PCA analysis. According to different application conditions, ESF-O properties could be adjusted by different degrees of fiber addition or thermal crosslinking.

Dual-functional shikonin-loaded quaternized chitosan/polycaprolactone nanofibrous film with pH-sensing for active and intelligent food packaging.

Recently, intelligent packaging has emerged for monitoring food quality in food industry. This study aimed to develop the electrospun HACC/PCL/SKN nanofibrous films with improved antimicrobial and antioxidant activity as intelligent packaging to monitor food freshness. The SKN loading resulted in nanoscale uniform fibers (approximately 55.0 nm), and the HACC/PCL/SKN nanofibrous films presented improved hydrophobicity, barrier properties and mechanical properties. Release kinetics study demonstrated that the loading effect led to a sustained release of SKN from fibers. The HACC/PCL film containing 2 wt% SKN showed good antibacterial effect during 24 h, suggesting enhanced antimicrobial activity. Moreover, the SKN-based solutions and films exhibited pH-responsive color changes from red (pH 2) to blue-purple (pH 12). Finally, the HACC/PCL/SKN film effectively provided a spoilage indication for shrimp stored at different temperatures for 3 days by color changes. This work provides a promising strategy for developing multi-functional film as an intelligent packaging in food industry.