Open Access

ARTICLE

Zein-Based Electrospun Composite Nanofiber Films for Food Packaging

Chengyao Xue^1,2, Leting Wang², Jihao Yang², Hao Zhang², Xinhang Duan², Yizhou Dong², Yiwen Yan², Yu Zhang³, Jinghui Shi⁴, Wenliang Song^1,2,*

1 Gongli Hospital of Shanghai Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China
2 School of Materials and Chemistry, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
3 School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences, Shanghai, China
4 Runfangke Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China

* Corresponding Author: Wenliang Song. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Antimicrobial Fibrous Polymer Materials: Molecular Design and Functional Engineering)

Journal of Polymer Materials 2026, 43(2), 12 https://doi.org/10.32604/jpm.2026.082848

Received 24 March 2026; Accepted 29 May 2026; Issue published 30 June 2026

Abstract

Food packaging films play a crucial role in maintaining food quality and safeguarding human health, making the development of advanced packaging materials an important research priority. Conventional petroleum-based plastic films suffer from poor degradability and may pose environmental and potential health concerns, while many currently available preservative films still exhibit limited freshness-retention performance. Therefore, the development of environmentally friendly, non-toxic, biodegradable, and efficient food-packaging materials is of great significance. In this study, coaxial electrospinning was employed to fabricate a core–shell nanofiber film by encapsulating resveratrol within gelatin/zein (GA/ZN) fibers, aiming to enhance the preservation performance of edible packaging films. The as-prepared films were systematically characterized in terms of morphology, wettability, and functional properties, followed by practical preservation tests using strawberries and bananas as model fruits. The results demonstrated that, compared with traditional plastic films, the incorporation of corn zein into gelatin-based nanofibers effectively extended the shelf life of the tested fruits by approximately 2–3 days at room temperature. In comparison with pure gelatin nanofibers, the average fiber diameter decreased from 1.67 to 0.91 μm, while the water contact angle increased to 105.2°, indicating enhanced hydrophobicity and improved barrier-related properties. The gelatin/zein-resveratrol nanofiber film exhibited 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2^′-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging rates of 95.85 ± 0.11% and 94.90 ± 0.11%, respectively, and antibacterial rates of 91 ± 2% against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and 94 ± 1% against Escherichia coli (E. coli). These antioxidant and antibacterial properties contributed to delaying fruit deterioration and maintaining postharvest quality. Overall, this study provides a promising strategy for the design of edible, biodegradable, and bioactive nanofiber films and offers new insights into the development of sustainable active food-packaging materials for fresh-produce preservation.

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Keywords

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