Obtention of Antimicrobial Fibers Type Core/Shell PLA/PVOH-LAE by Coaxial Electrospinning

Abstract

Abstract Coaxial electrospinning (EC) is a technology that allows the encapsulation of active compounds, as ethyl lauroyl arginate (LAE), in shell/core structures, in order to develop new antimicrobial food packaging materials with slowdown of active compound's release with the purpose of extending food shelf life. For this reason, the objective of this study consisted in developing antimicrobial fibers shell/core type by EC. Two polymers with different hydrophilic character as poly (lactic acid) (PLA) to the shell and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) and LAE to the core were used to obtain PLA/PVOH-LAE fibers, and slowdown the release of antimicrobial compound. The morphology of fibers was evaluated by optical microscopy and the thermal properties through thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). Release studies were carried out in fatty (ETOH 95%) food simulant and was compared with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of LAE against Listeria innnocua. The optical micrographs evidenced the obtention of shell/core structure with an average diameter of 0,6 µm approximately, and the TGA analyses demonstrated the thermal protection of LAE by shell of fibers. Released LAE reached the equilibrium state in ETOH 95% during the first 3 hours, maintaining a higher concentration than MIC value obtained in L. innnocua (10 ppm). The results demonstrate that new packaging materials with antimicrobial activity as PLA/PVOH-LAE polymeric fibers with shell/core structure can be obtained through coaxial electrospinning technique.

Keywords

• coaxial electrospinning, ethyl lauroyl arginate, fibers, shell/core, food packaging.