All-naturally structured tough, ultrathin, and washable dual-use composite for fruits preservation with high biosafety evaluation.

ABSTRACT

This work develops a sustainable and global strategy to enhance fruit preservation efficacy. The dual-use composite coating or film comprises silk fibroin/cellulose nanocrystals (SF/CNC) with superior ductility through a synergistic plasticizing effect of glycerol and natural aloe-emodin powder (AE) as antimicrobial agents. To confirm our strategy, two common fruit preservation materials (edible surface coating-SCA-CS; packaging film-SCA-PF) and five different fruits (strawberries, bananas, apples, blueberries, and guavas) have been used. Moreover, SCA-CS coating with antibacterial and antioxidant activities formed an ultrathin layer on the fruit's surfaces with a thickness of 7.7 µm and could be easily washable. Therefore, bananas and strawberries' shelf-life with SCA-CS coating can be extended for 9 days and 6 days, respectively. The discharge water of SCA-CS has excellent biosafety in an indoor environment with no threat to plant health (microgreens bean sprouts germination as a case study). The plant exhibited positive results within 15 days, and leaves maintained their green color with a germination rate of 97.6 %. The toughness of SCA-PF film increased by 14,685.7 % with a water vapor transmission rate (WPTR) of 17 g mm m-2 day-1, which confirms that the concept of SCA-PF film and SCA-CS coating are feasible to be used for fruit preservation/packaging.