Fabrication and characterization of pectin films incorporated with clove essential oil emulsions stabilized by modified sodium caseinate

The objective of this work was to develop pectin films with antioxidant activity through the incorporation of clove essential oil (CEO) emulsions stabilized by cold plasma-(CP) and moderate electric field-(MEF) treated sodium caseinate. The CEO emulsions fabricated by CP-and MEF-treated caseinate revealed smaller droplet size and higher physical stability than the untreated caseinate. The pectin films embedded by CEO emulsions were evaluated in terms of structure, morphology, and thermal stability, as well as DPPH scavenging activity, mechanical, physical, and UV-Vis light barrier properties. The FTIR, MDSC and SEM results demonstrated the compatibility between pectin and impregnated CEO emulsions. The stabilization of CEO with CP-and MEFtreated caseinates provided substantially higher mechanical strength and stretchability, and more CEO retention during the storage time in the pectin films compared to untreated caseinate. These outcomes highlight the great potential of pectin films incorporated by CP-and MEF-treated caseinate CEO emulsions to be applied as active green packaging for extending the shelf-life of foodstuffs susceptible to oxidation, and as a promising alternative to minimize the adverse environmental effects.