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. 2024 Mar 19;22:101307. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101307

Colorimetric pH-sensitive hydrogel film based on kappa-carrageenan containing quercetin or eucalyptus leaf extract for freshness monitoring of chicken meat

Akbar Mirzaei a, Yashar Bina Jorshari a, Shahrzad Jananshir a,⁎, Milad Noori a, Mohammad Mahdavi b
PMCID: PMC10973808  PMID: 38550888

Highlights

  • •

    Two novel k-carrageenan-based smart freshness indicator films were developed.

  • •

    The efficiency of natural pH-sensitive dye indicators QUE and ELE was explored.

  • •

    The film containing ELE shows distinguished pH-responsive color changes.

  • •

    Remarkable antimicrobial properties of films preventing chicken spoilage.

Keywords: Antibacterial film, Carrageenan, Food packing, Smart packaging

Abstract

In this study, we created new pH-sensitive hydrogel films using κ-carrageenan (CG) and either quercetin (QUE) or eucalyptus leaf extract (ELE) to monitor the spoilage of chicken meat. The ability to monitor and control freshness was confirmed by observing the dependence of color on pH changes and measuring total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) levels for CG-QUE (26.5) and CG-ELE (29.75). After conducting a UV–Vis analysis, it was established that films containing 0.3 % of QUE or ELE, with transparency levels above 90 %, have the potential for further research. We found that CG-ELE was more effective in preventing bacterial growth and reducing spoilage compared to CG-QUE. The CG-ELE film also had superior mechanical behavior with higher tensile strength (13.2 ± 0.6 MPa) and lower elongation at break of (5 ± 0.1). Our findings confirmed the preference and superiority of ELE over QUE based on colorimetric response and antibacterial properties.

Introduction

Over the years, scientists have dedicated their efforts to develop technology that can sense spoilage in food and beverage items through their packaging. Nowadays, there's a rising curiosity in producing “smart” packaging that can oversee the quality and state of food products while they're in storage, transit, and distribution (Huang et al., 2023, Jia et al., 2023, Liu et al., 2018, Meng et al., 2023, Xu et al., 2022). Among various foods, poultry meat has been increasing due to its high nutritional value and low-calorie density (Lytou, Renieri, Doulgeraki, Nychas, & Panagou, 2020). The consumption of poultry meat in 2023 is calculated to be around 156.24 metric kilotons. At the same time, the low shelf life of poultry meat due to environmental bacteria causes economic losses and reduces consumer confidence in the health of the meat.Therefore, it is important to ensure the health of consumed meat, reduce the rate of spoilage and detect it in time to prevent damage to human health and the environment (Tsafrakidou, Sameli, Bosnea, Chorianopoulos, & Samelis, 2021).

The activity of environmental microbes leads to altered degradation of meat proteins and produces basic volatile organic amines (Hadi & Brightwell, 2021). Therefore, applying color pH indicators is useful for checking the quality of food freshness (X. Zhang, Liu, Yong, Qin, Liu, & Liu, 2019). Generally, indicators consist of pH colorimetric material made from support with a pH sensing agent such as dye that change their structure with changes in pH and appear in different colors (X. Wang, Yong, Gao, Li, Jin, & Liu, 2019; X. Zhang, Liu, Yong, Qin, Liu, & Liu, 2019). As an appropriate pH indicator, it is important to ensure the safety of both the matrix and dye used in hydrogels. Hydrogels are made up of a ternary network that contains a large amount of water. Hydrogel films are widely used in food packaging to control the amount of moisture present. Due to their ability to absorb water to over 100 % of their weight, hydrogels can help to remove moisture caused by harmful substances or prevent excessive water penetration due to unique environmental conditions within the package. As a result, the water absorption capability of hydrogel films can help to reduce water activity, prevent the growth of mold and prevent food spoilage caused by bacteria (Batista, Espitia, Quintans, Freitas, Cerqueira, Teixeira, et al., 2019; X. Wang, Yong, Gao, Li, Jin, & Liu, 2019). Incorporating biologically active substances such as proteins, extracts, and essential oils within the hydrogel film structure can prevent the growth of environmental microorganisms and extend the shelf life of meat (Erez and Bayramoglu, 2024, Kong et al., 2023; J. Zhang, Zhang, Huang, Shi, Muhammad, Zhai, et al., 2023). The production of Intelligent films has been accomplished through the utilization of biologically active compounds, including curcumin, anthocyanins, and quercetin (Hasan et al., 2024, Subramanian et al., 2022). For example, preparation of blueberry anthocyanin film composite has been effective against pork spoilage (Kong, et al., 2023). It has been reported that chitosan and anthocyanin are being used in various concentrations to develop films with antibacterial properties for smart packaging (Li, Liu, Ye, He, Wei, & Dang, 2022). Additionally, materials such as potato anthocyanin, grape skin powder rich in anthocyanins, and fenugreek seed extract have been utilized for this purpose (Alizadeh-Sani, Mohammadian, Rhim, & Jafari, 2020). In recent years, several studies have been reported on the preparation of film based on natural dyes such as basil extract, potato anthocyanin, grape skin powder rich in anthocyanin, fenugreek seed extract, and cinnamon essential oil (Erez & Bayramoglu, 2024; J. Zhang, et al., 2023). These studies hold promise for the creation of more sustainable and eco-friendly materials in the film industry.

Generally, utilizing non-toxic natural dyes and polysaccharides such as starch, CG, cellulose, and chitosan has been highly regarded (Rui et al., 2024, Tripathi et al., 2024, Wu et al., 2024). Our interest is focused on κ-CG due to its excellent film-forming ability, strong gel film, biocompatibility, renewability, edibility, and restrain lipid oxidation. However, packaging films based on natural polymers have not been developed due to lack of thermal stability and low mechanical strength. Or they have defects that limit their use. For example, cellophane, which is based on cellulose, loses its mechanical strength and adhesion at low temperatures (Yoshida, Maciel, Mendonça, & Franco, 2014). Therefore, the expansion of packaging films based on natural and edible polymers such as CG needs more studies. CG is biopolymers and classified into three forms (kappa, iota, lambda) based on their structural properties. Kappa and iota CG are used to packaging films (Mirzaei, Esmkhani, Zallaghi, Nezafat, & Javanshir, 2023). It has been determined that κ-CG is more suitable for the production of food packaging films due to due to less sulfate groups and less negative charge and the production of strong packaging films with less hydrophilicity (Farhan & Hani, 2020). Previous studies indicate that κ-CG has been successfully employed in food packaging film with different pH indicators. For instance, κ-CG incorporated with polyphenol compounds such as curcumin for freshness monitoring spoilage has been reported.

Unlike anthocyanin as a flavonoid, QUE has received less attention in this field.QUE is a polyphenolic flavonoid found in food products and plants such as eucalyptus and is considered a plant pigment, which has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities (Qi, Qi, Xiong, & Long, 2022). There is no comparison of flavonoids and extracts containing flavonoids. For example, there is no report of comparing the effect of ELE and ELE pigments (QUE) in meat packaging in the previous literature. Our aim in this research is to investigate the effect of adding QUE and ELE containing a specific dose of QUE to the hydrogel of CG films to monitor the spoilage and control the freshness of chicken meat. This study is important in several ways: First, the combination of CG and ELE or QUE for food packaging has never been reported. Second, the comparison of QUE pigment as an active flavonoid with the extract containing the same amount of pigment. Third, the selection of QUE as a biologically active substance and colorimetric response for spoilage control and simultaneous spoilage monitoring. We used a UV–Vis spectrophotometer to measure the concentration of QUE in the extract. This helped us make an accurate comparison when creating a film based on either QUE or ELE. We focused on the accuracy of the pH-sensing properties of the CG-based films containing QUE and ELE. We investigated the tensile strength and structure of the films. We confirmed the preference and superiority of ELE over QUE by evaluating colorimetric response and antibacterial properties.

1. Material and methods

1.2. Reagent and equipment

All of the required chemicals, including methanol, ethanol, aluminum chloride, potassium acetate, ammonia, hydrochloric acid, κ-carrageenan, and quercetin, were purchased from Aldrich. The bacterial strains used in the research, i.e. S. aureus ATCC 6538, S. epidermidis ATCC 12228, B. subtilis ATCC 6633, E. coli ATCC 8739, P. aeruginosa ATCC 9027 and K. pneumonia ATCC 10031 procured from the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST). The κ-carrageenan/quercetin (CG-QUE) and carrageenan/ eucalyptus leaf extract (CG-ELE) films were analyzed using ZEISS Sigma 300 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Shimadzu 8400 S Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FT-IR), and Shimadzu UV–Vis 1700 Spectrophotometer. The mechanical properties were tested using TA-XTPlus Texture Analyzer from Stable Micro Systems, Co., UK.

2.1. Preparation of eucalyptus leaf extract

Due to the high solubility of quercetin in ethanol, we used ethanol with the sonication process for maximum extraction efficiency. 10.0 g of leaf eucalyptus was crushed and macerated with 100.0 mL ethanol:water (70:30). After 24 h, the sample was sonicated for 2 h using an ultrasonic bath at 30 KHz. Subsequently, the material was filtered, and the extract was concentrated by a rotary evaporator and kept at 4 °C.

2.2. Spectrophotometric determination of QUE content

The results of total flavonoid content were stated as mg QUE per gram of dry extract. The aluminum chloride colorimetric method was used to specify total flavonoids. The ELE was mixed with methanol (0.5 mL of 1.0:10.0 g/mL), 0.1 mL of 10 % aluminum choloride (AlCl3), 0.1 mL of potassium acetate (CH3CO2K) 1.0 M, and 2.8 mL of distilled water. The absorbance of the mixture was determined using a spectrophotometer UV–Vis at 415 nm to detect QUE in triplicate. The same sample without AlCl3 was used as a blank solution. The calibration curve was prepared by preparing QUE solutions at 10.0 to 100.0 μg/mL concentrations in methanol.

2.3. Film preparation

CG solutions were prepared by dissolving CG (0.1 g) in distilled water (0.50 mL) containing 0.1 mL of glycerol with stirring and heating at 90 °C for half an hour. After that, a series of methanol/water solutions (10.0 mL, 80/20) containing QUE with different weights (0.0, 0.3, 0.5, 3.0 and 5.0 %) of QUE was prepared and added to the solution containing CG. The final solution was de-bubbled with the help of a sonication bath for 10 min. In the next step, the solutions are poured into a 1.5 x 8 cm petri dish and dried at 40 °C for 24 h until a thin layer called CG-QUE0, CG-QUE0.3, CG-QUE0.5, CG- to be formed. The above steps were repeated to prepare films containing ELE. Some soluble extracts of CG were added to make final films containing 2.0 and 5.0 % corticosteroids.

2.4. Light-transmittance measurement and UV–vis spectra of the films

The light transmittance of the films was measured through a Shimadzu Corporation UV-2550 spectrophotometer. The study was conducted over a wavelength range of 200–600 nm. Small pieces (4.0 cm × 1.0 cm) were placed in the device cell, and air was used as a benchmark for transparency. UV–vis spectra of CG film, CG-ELE film, and CG-QUE were measured by Shimadzu UV–Vis 1700 Spectrophotometer. For the stated purpose, precise values of pH (pH 1–12) were achieved in eucalyptus extract solutions and films (1 × 1) by adjusting them with hydrochloric acid (HCl) or ammonia (NH3) 0.1 mol/L solutions. The film without ELE and QUE was employed as a blank.

Usage of films as a freshness representative for chicken

In order to evaluate the films' ability to detect changes in pH, films containing ELE or QUE with a thickness of 3 mm were placed in the top compartment of a chicken packaging box, which served as a lid (10.0 g). The containers were then sealed with parafilm and incubated at a temperature of 25 °C and a relative humidity of 50 % water.

The Kjeldahl method was used to measure the level of TVB-N (total volatile basic nitrogen) in the chicken sample. Initially, a 10.0 g sample of meat was homogenized in 100.0 mL of distilled water and then centrifuged (3500 rmp, 15 min). Next, a 5.0 mL filtrate solution was added to a Kjeldahl distillation unit, along with 5.0 mL of magnesium oxide (MgO) suspension (10.0 g/L). The condensed liquid was collected and titrated with boric acid solution (20.0 g/L) and 0.1 mol/L of HCl..

2.5. Film morphology and structure

The morphology and structure of the samples were investigated using FESEM TESCAN MIRA3. The interaction between CG and QUE or ELE was determined by FTIR spectroscopy.

2.6. Antibacterial activity

The antimicrobial activities of films against S. aureus ATCC 6538, S. epidermidis ATCC 12228, B. subtilis ATCC 6633, E. coli ATCC 8739, P. aeruginosa ATCC 9027 and K. pneumonia ATCC 10031 were tested as recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Our effort was to use bacteria that affect the health of meat. P.aeruginosa is one of the most common bacteria that causes meat spoilage. K.pneumoniae is found in raw meat, vegetables and juices. B. subtilis is present in most environments, especially raw food and contaminates them. E. coli and S. aureus is mainly transmitted to humans through raw and minced meat and they play a role in human poisoning.. Mueller-Hinton Broth (HiMedia) and RPMI-1640 (Sigma) were prepared as recommended for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial strains. Two-fold dilutions were made in the 1.0–512.0 μg/mL range for tested compounds. The antimicrobial susceptibility test was accomplished by adding a cell suspension adjusted to the 0.5 McFarland standard (1–2 × 108 CFU/mL for bacterial strains). Following incubation, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was established as the lowest concentration of films that completely inhibits the organism’s growth, as detected visually. The steps of the experiments were repeated twice. The test results were reported in the supplementary information.

2.7. Mechanical properties

The TA-XTPlus Texture Analyzer (Stable Micro Systems, Co., UK) is used for the investigation of the tensile strength (TS) and elongation at break (EB) according to ISO 527. Each experiment was repeated three times, and the results were averaged. The TS and EB of the specimens (1.0 cm * 2.0 cm) were determined, from which the values of Young’s modulus could be determined. The test results were reported in the supplementary information.

2.8. Statistical analysis

Unpaired Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis for three independent experiments were presentedas the average ± standard deviation (SD). Significance was defined at p < 0.05.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Spectrophotometric determination of quercetin

The total phenolic content in the methanol was performed, and the quercetin calibration curve shows in Fig. 1. The result of total phenolic content was calculated from the regression equation of the standard plot (y = 0.004x + 0.014, R2 = 0.9746). According to the curve calibration, the concentration of the quercetin was 125 µg / ml.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

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QUE calibration curve.

3.2. Light-transmittance and UV–vis measurement

The colors of QUE solutions and eucalyptus extract solutions at pH 1–12 are demonstrated in Fig. 2a, c. The color of the eucalyptus extracts solutions conversions from bright yellow to reddish brown and. The color of the quercetin solution changes from bright yellow to light yellow with increasing pH values. The color changes are due to the chemical structure transformation of QUE (Jurasekova et al., 2014, Masek et al., 2018). Fig. 2b, d shows the corresponding absorption UV–vis spectra change of the ELE and QUE solutions with pH changes. The structure of QUE consists of three important parts: (i) the catechol structure in the B-ring; (ii) the 2,3-double bond, in conjugation with the 4-oxo function in the C-ring; and (iii) the 3- and 5-OH groups in the A-ring (Fig. 3) (Jurasekova, Domingo, García-Ramos, & Sánchez-Cortés, 2014). the color change is not a simple result of the deprotonation of the QUE hydroxyl groups. The appearance of peaks at a low wavelength related to chemical change involving the C-ring occurs, leading to a loss of electronic resonance between rings A and B. For quercetin solutions, maximum absorption appeared around 250 nm and 325 nm at pH = 6 due to π → π* transitions at rings A and B. Reciprocally, the mentioned peak transmit to 325 nm nm at pH = 11 and 12. Also, the intensity of the peak increased by increasing the pH of the under alkaline conditions.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

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A) que solution at ph = 1–12, b) Uv–vis spectra of QUE solution, c) ELE solution at pH = 1–12, and d) UV–Vis spectra of ELE solution.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

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Structure of QUE.

Eucalyptus, which contains flavonoids (quercetin, rutin) and tannins (Ellagic acid), is a natural dye, yielding several yellowish-brown colorants. The major coloring component of Eucalyptus bark is QUE. The presence of tannins and other flavonoids (rutin) may cause a difference in the color of the extract solution from the pure quercetin solution (Ali et al., 2007, Cadahía et al., 1997, Mongkholrattanasit et al., 2013, Vankar et al., 2006). The comparison of pH changes on the prepared films shows that the film containing the extract shows a more obvious color change.

The study of light transmittance revealed good light transmission for all the prepared films. However, the incorporation of QUE and ELE considerably reduced the light transmittance of the samples (Fig. 4a, b). The reduction may be due to QUE and ELE embedded in the CG film which can seriously block light transmission, as shown in FESEM images (Fig. 5). From the SEM images, it is evident that the surface of the films is smooth and free from grains or particle accumulation, which can impact the quality of the prepared films in controlling chicken spoilage. The cracks observed on the surface are defects caused by the electron beam during imaging. Previous research shows that the transparency of the packaging leads to consumer confidence because various food crises have caused consumers to pay more attention to their health. For this reason, transparent product packaging has become especially important to be a good answer for product visibility and consumer decisions (Simmonds & Spence, 2019). Therefore, CG films contents above 0.3 % of QUE or ELE are considered suitable for the monitoring chicken freshness application. Similar results were reported for CG films containing curcumin. Also, there are reports of carboxymethyl cellulose, gelatin, and poly(lactic acid) films containing quercetin with transparency above 90 %(Ezati & Rhim, 2021). These results show that vegetable pigments have gained special attention in food packaging due to their lack of turbidity and high sensitivity to pH.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

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Optical transmittance curves of a) CG-QUE film, b) CG-ELE film.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

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FESEM images of films. a,b) CG-QUE0.3, and c,d) CG-ELE0.3

3.3. FTIR characterization

The FTIR spectra of ELE, QUE, and the prepared films (CG-QUE0.3 and CG-ELE0.3) are shown in Fig. 6a,b. In the FTIR spectrum of CG, the two peaks at 3400 cm−1 and 2945 cm−1 correspond respectively to the hydroxyl group and C—H stretching vibrations. The absorption bands at 1230 cm−1 and 1047 cm−1 correspond to O Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 S = O asymmetric stretching and a combination of C—O and C-OH modes (Şen & Erboz, 2010). On the other hand, the absorption band at 1017 cm−1 is attributed to Glycosidic bonds. The absorption band at 930 cm−1 indicates the presence of 3,6-anhydro-d-galactose (Mirzaei, Jamshidi, Morshedloo, Javanshir, & Manteghi, 2021). Moreover, glycerol’s C—O and C-OH vibrations bond appears in 1421 cm−1 and 1114 cm−1, respectively (Danish, Mumtaz, Fakhar, & Rashid, 2017). The intense absorption band at 1637 cm−1 was allied to the absorbed water (Liu, et al., 2018).

Fig. 6.

Fig. 6

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FTIR spectrum of a) QUE, CG-QUE0.3 film, CG film and b) ELE, CG-ELE.3 film, CG film.

In the FTIR spectrum of QUE (Fig. 6a), the stretching vibration of –OH and C Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 O were observed at 3320 and 1670 cm−1. Stretching vibration of cyclobenzene peaks appeared at 1611 cm−1, 1511 cm−1, and 1458.8 cm−1. N—H stretching vibration was observed at 3412 cm−1 (S. Wang, Yao, Zhou, Yang, Chaudry, Wang, et al., 2018).

The FTIR spectrum of the ELE (Fig. 6b) shows a typical absorption band around 3477 and 3415 cm−1 corresponding to the –OH (related to phenolic compound) and N—H group. The presence peak at 2925 cm−1 and 2853 cm−1 is associated with the C—H vibration of aldehyde and alken, respectively. The sharp band at 1733 cm−1 is consistent with C Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 O stretching vibrations. The absorption peaks at 1630 cm−1 and 1568 cm−1 are attributed to the presence of C Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 C in an aromatic ring. The band observed at 1110 cm−1 and 1040 cm−1 are due to the C—O stretching (Balaji, Guda, Mandal, Kasula, Ubba, & Khan, 2021).

In the FTIR diagram of CG-QUE0.3, all the specified peaks of CG and QUE can be viewed. But, the phenolic –OH stretching of QUE showed a low shift from 3412 cm−1 to 3375 cm−1, simultaneously, the C Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 C stretching in the benzene ring at 1611, 1511, 1457 cm−1 shifted to 1605 cm−1, 1454 cm−1, 1411 cm−1, which corroborated the existence of hydrogen bond between CG and QUE (Liu, et al., 2018). In the spectrum of CG-ELE0.3, –OH stretching low-shift from 3477 cm−1 to 3412 cm−1 due to the hydrogen bond between CG and ELE (Liu, et al., 2018).

3.4. Utilizing films as a freshness indicator for chicken

Food spoilage, which is related to human health, is caused by the activity of microorganisms. Using suitable materials for food packaging can delay this spoilage. The proteins in the meat are attacked by bacteria and various volatile nitrogenous compounds, which lead to a change in the pH value. As a result of food spoilage, amino compounds such as ammonia, dimethylammonium, and trimethylamine are produced, which can change the pH of the environment. Therefore, pH changes can be a good measure of the freshness of food and its health (Liu, et al., 2018). Considering the pH sensing behavior of films, the CG-QUE0.3 and CG-ELE0.3 films were employed to monitor chicken freshness. The samples are shown in Fig. 4; CG-QUE 0.3 changed from red to orange on the 3 days, and CG-ELE 0.3 changed from green to yellow. The TVB-N of the chicken in the films is shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7.

Fig. 7

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Color response of a) CG-QUE0.3, b) CG-ELE0.3 film at different pH values, sensing film applications for monitoring chicken freshness, c) 0 day, and d) after 3 days.

As expected, in contrast to the control film, the film containing QUE and ELE changed color with time due to the spoilage of chicken meat and the change in volatile nitrogen compounds.As Table 1 shows, the amount of TVB-N for CG-QUE0.3 and CG-ELE0.3 films was 29.75 ± 0.02and 26.5 ± 0.04 respectively. Compared to the control sample, after three days, the process of spoilage of the videos has decreased to some extent. These numbers are close to TVB-N obtained CG (21.01) films containing curcumin and it was preferable to the chitosan (36.85) (Yildiz, Sumnu, & Kahyaoglu, 2021) film containing curcumin for storage of chicken meat. There are also other reports of CG film containing curcumin with TVB-N values of 31.11 and 41.53(Liu, et al., 2018) for paking of pork and shrimp, respectiveltiy.

Table 1.

TVB-N levels for chicken.

TVB-N Test
Samples		 TVB-N (100/mg)
0 day 3 days
Control 21.7 41.22 ± 0.04
CG-QUE0.3 – 29.75 ± 0.02
CG-ELE0.3 – 26.5 ± 0.04
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It can be deduced that the QUE and ELE combined CG film can be used as a representative for spoilage investigation of protein foods. The comparison of the film containing QUE and the ELE states that the film containing the extract had a greater effect in preventing chicken spoilage. This result can be very economical from the industrial and economic points of view because using pure QUE requires extraction and purification from plant extracts. In fact, the simplicity of making the film, the ease of preparing the extract, the clear color changes, and the beneficial effect of keeping chickens can be considered an advantage for industrial use.

4. Conclusion

Films containing ELE or QUE with transparency above 90 % were prepared to monitor the freshness of chicken meat. The results show that the film has an antibacterial effect MIC of the CG-QUE 8-128 (μg/mL) or CG-ELE 4-128 (μg/ml) for different bacteria on meat spoiling bacteria and they show a clear color change with chicken spoilage. However, the ability to monitor and control freshness was confirmed by observing the dependence of color on pH changes and measuring TVB-N levels for CG-QUE (26.5), there are still challenges in its industrial use. First: To obtain stable and repeatable results from film containing ELE, extract with a specific amount of compounds should be used because the quality of the extract is affected by factors such as plant species, harvesting season, region, and extraction method. Second: The film substrate can play an important role in the properties of the final film, which creates the feeling of needing more effort to reach the ideal film. It is also important to prepare films with better mechanical properties for daily use in food packaging. Our main goal was to compare the performance of the film containing ELE or QUE on the diagnosis and control of chicken. Although the use of pure extract has been economically more economical due to the elimination of the purification process, the mentioned challenges can be a perspective of Indian research to improve the performance of active packaging based on natural materials.

Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Akbar Mirzaei: Writing – original draft, Visualization, Validation, Methodology, Investigation. Yashar Bina: Visualization, Validation, Investigation, Formal analysis. Shahrzad Jananshir: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration, Conceptualization. Milad Noori: Validation, Data curation. Mohammad Mahdavi: Writing – review & editing, Supervision.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Footnotes

Appendix A

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101307.

Contributor Information

Shahrzad Jananshir, Email: shjavan@iust.ac.ir.

Mohammad Mahdavi, Email: momahdavi@tums.ac.ir.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

The following are the Supplementary data to this article:

Supplementary Data 1
mmc1.docx (38.1KB, docx)

Data availability

All data are available in the manuscript and the supplementary

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