Accepted Manuscript

Title: Chitosan films incorporated with citric acid and glycerol

as an active packaging material for extension of green chilli
shelf life

Authors: Ruchir Priyadarshi, Sauraj, Bijender Kumar, Yuvraj

Singh Negi

PII: S0144-8617(18)30483-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.089
Reference: CARP 13543

To appear in:

Received date: 11-12-2017

Revised date: 27-2-2018
Accepted date: 23-4-2018

Please cite this article as: Priyadarshi, Ruchir., Sauraj, ., Kumar, Bijender., & Negi,
Yuvraj Singh., Chitosan films incorporated with citric acid and glycerol as an active
packaging material for extension of green chilli shelf life.Carbohydrate Polymers
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.089

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 Chitosan films incorporated with citric acid and glycerol as an
active packaging material for extension of green chilli shelf life

Ruchir Priyadarshia, Sauraja, Bijender Kumara, Yuvraj Singh Negia*

a
Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Saharanpur
Campus, Saharanpur-247001 (U.P.), India.
*Corresponding author. Tel: +91-9319605330
Email: yuvrajnegi@gmail.com; ynegifpt@iitr.ac.in

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HIGHLIGHTS:

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 Chitosan film with citric acid cross linker and glycerol plasticizer was prepared.
 Its properties were compared with that of neat chitosan film.

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 It showed better transparency, water resistance and moisture barrier properties.
 The mechanical, thermal and antioxidant properties of the film were improved.
 The film was used to pack green chillies and found to enhance their shelf life.

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ABSTRACT
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Chitosan films with cross linker and plasticizer were prepared using solvent casting method
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for food packaging application. Citric acid was used as the cross linker which enhances the

stability of the films. Glycerol was used as plasticizer which imparts flexibility. Successful
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cross linking was confirmed by Fourier Transform-Infra Red (FT-IR) spectra and
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incorporation of glycerol was seen clearly in the Field Emission Scanning Electron

Microscope (FE-SEM) images. The modified films show an improved water resistance and
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transparency. An improved moisture barrier was also observed with a 5.5% and 29%
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reduction in water vapor transmission and water vapor permeability, respectively. Modified

films showed drastic 12 times increase in the elongation percentage value, hence enhanced
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flexibility. However, the tensile strength and Young’s modulus decreased substantially by

82% and 98%, respectively. The films also showed better thermal and antioxidant properties

as compared to neat chitosan films and were found to enhance green chilli shelf life.

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Keywords: Chitosan Films; Thermal Properties; Hot Stage Microscopy; Food Packaging;

Active Packaging; Cross linker and plasticizer.

1. INTRODUCTION

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Active packaging has been alluring the food packaging researchers for the past few years. It

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involves the incorporation of active substances in the packaging material which can alter the

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environment of the packaged food, thereby altering its metabolism, providing enhanced

protection, and consequently improving its quality leading to increased shelf life. The most

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commonly used polymers for the fabrication of active packaging materials are conventional
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synthetic petroleum based polymers which are non-biodegradable. Since disposal is the
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ultimate fate of food packaging materials after the food is consumed, they contribute to the
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non-biodegradable municipal solid waste and tend to accumulate leading to serious

environmental concerns. This makes way for the use of biodegradable natural polymers for
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use in active food packaging (Arfat, Ejaz, Jacob, & Ahmed, 2017).

Chitin is a naturally occurring polymer obtained from biological sources like shells of
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crustaceans, cuticle of some arthropods and cell wall of fungi. Chitosan is the deacetylated
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derivative of chitin (Varma, Deshpande, & Kennedy, 2004). It has wide applications in
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pharmaceutical and biomedical fields (Lord, Cheng, McCarthy, Jung, & Whitelock, 2011)

due to its properties like biodegradability, biocompatibility and anti-bacterial properties

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(Ahmed, Mulla, Arfat, & Thai T, 2017). Chitosan films have been successfully examined

experimentally on several fresh and dairy produce and were found to protect them against

contamination and microbial spoilage, hence increasing their shelf life and quality (Di Pierro,

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Sorrentino, Mariniello, Giosafatto, & Porta, 2011; Lopez, Castillo, Garcia, Villar, & Barbosa,

2015; Rahman, Mujeeb, & Muraleedharan, 2017; Tan, Lim, Tay, Lee, & Thian, 2015).

Chitosan films also display properties like flexibility, durability, strength, toughness and high

break resistance (Martinez-Camacho et al., 2010) and have moderate values of water and

oxygen permeability which help in decreasing the respiratory rate of food (Agulló,

Rodríguez, Ramos, & Albertengo, 2003). Chitosan films have been extensively used as an

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active food packaging material in recent times. A plethora of literature is available showing

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the incorporation of various additives in chitosan films to impart activity to the neat polymer.

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Chitosan films with added nanoparticles show not only enhanced antimicrobial activity

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against various food borne microorganisms, but also a betterment in the mechanical

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properties due to reinforcement effect of nanoparticles in the polymer matrix (Priyadarshi &
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Negi, 2017). Several reports show enhanced shelf life of packed foods like meat (Rahman et
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al., 2017) and tomatoes (Kaewklin, Siripatrawan, Suwanagul, & Lee, 2018) when packed
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with nanoparticle incorporated chitosan films. Besides the use of nanoparticles, natural

components of plant and animal origin as additives have also been the focus of food
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packaging researchers in recent times. Siripatrawan et al. prepared active chitosan films

incorporated with green tea extract (Siripatrawan & Harte, 2010) and propolis extract
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(Siripatrawan & Vitchayakitti, 2016) in two different studies to impart antioxidant activity to

the films. A similar study using fermented sugared tea polyphenols in chitosan films was also
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conducted recently by Ashrafi et al. (Ashrafi, Jokar, & Mohammadi Nafchi, 2018). Vilela et

al. prepared ellagic acid added chitosan films that displayed strong UV-barrier properties
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besides being antimicrobial and antioxidant in nature (Vilela et al., 2017). In a more recent

study, Crizel et al. reported increased shelf life of walnut kernels when packed in chitosan

films incorporated with olive pomace particles (de Moraes Crizel et al., 2018). The films

were observed to be highly antioxidant and prevented oxidation of walnut kernel oils.
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The mechanical and barrier properties of chitosan films can be regulated by addition of

plasticizers (Chillo et al., 2008; Fernandez Cervera et al., 2004) as well as cross linkers

(Goissis et al., 1999; Johnson et al., 1999). Cross linkers are employed for improving the

barrier and mechanical properties biopolymeric films (Hernández-Muñoz, Villalobos, &

Chiralt, 2004; Robinson, Swain, & Khan, 2015). Plasticizers aid to improve the flexibility

and chain mobility of the films as they help in decreasing the intermolecular forces along the

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polymer chains (Vieira, Da Silva, Dos Santos, & Beppu, 2011). It is evident that the

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incorporation of cross linkers and plasticizers will also affect other properties of the base

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polymer.

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The present work attempts to study the effect of incorporating citric acid cross-linker and

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glycerol plasticizer on the food packaging properties of chitosan films. The physicochemical
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and functional properties of the films were studied and compared with that of neat chitosan
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films. It is for the first time that the process of thermal degradation is explained by correlating
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hot stage microscopy images with FTIR and thermogravimetric data. Also, this work is the

first attempt to determine the possibility of CSCG films as packaging material for fresh
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produce. The potential of the films to be developed as pouches was determined, aimed at

prolonged shelf life of green chillies while maintaining their quality.

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2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

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2.1 Materials

Chitosan was purchased from Hi-media Labs, Mumbai, India with degree of deacetylation
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>75%. The weight average molecular weight of the polysaccharide was verified by Static

Light Scattering (SLS) (Supplementary figure S1) and was found to be 2.9 × 105 g mol-1.

Citric acid anhydrous (99.5%) was also purchased from Hi-media Labs, Mumbai, India.

Glycerol 99.5% pure was procured from Rankem Fine Chemicals Limited, New Delhi, India,
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Glacial acetic acid (99.5%) was obtained from Qualigens Fine Chemicals, Mumbai, India, 2-

propanol (99.9%) was purchased from SD Fine Chemicals Limited, Mumbai, India. All the

reagents and chemicals used were of analytical grade.

2.2 Film fabrication

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Solvent evaporation method, also known as solvent casting method, was used to fabricate the

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films (Priyadarshi & Negi, 2017). Aqueous solution (1% v/v) of acetic acid was prepared in

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distilled water. To fabricate neat chitosan film (CS), chitosan solution was prepared by

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dissolving calculated quantity of chitosan (2% w/v) in the acetic acid solution prepared

above. For proper dissolution, the mixture was magnetically stirred overnight at 70 oC. The

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viscous chitosan solution so prepared was poured on flat glass plates and allowed to dry at
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room temperature for 72 h. Subsequently the plates were kept in a desiccator to avoid any
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moisture absorption before the studies were carried out. The preparation of citric acid cross-
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linked and glycerol plasticized modified chitosan film (CSCG) was carried out in a similar

way. However, after the overnight dissolution of chitosan in 1% acetic acid solution, as
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mentioned for the preparation of CS, citric acid in equal ratio to chitosan (w/w) was added
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and was allowed to dissolve for 3 h. Subsequently, glycerol was also added in 0.5:1 ratio to

that of citric acid. To determine these ratios, a qualitative experiment was performed earlier
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and the data is given in Supplementary Table S1. The stirring was continued for another 9 h
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and the films were dried and exposed to 130oC temperature to initiate cross linking before

storing as mentioned above.

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2.3 Film characterization

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The chemical composition of the films and possible interaction with the additives was studied

aided by FT-IR spectra recorded using Perkin-Elmer Spectrum-2 FT-IR spectrophotometer,

USA with 32 scans and 4 cm-1 resolution. The morphological analysis was carried out using

FE-SEM with the help of TESCAN Mira 3 Scanning Electron Microscope, Czech Republic

to observe the film morphology and changes. All the images were taken at 5kX

magnification.

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2.4 Physicochemical properties of film

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2.4.1 Moisture content

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Moisture content of a film can be defined as the amount of moisture taken up by the dry film

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from the environment till the equilibrium is established between the moisture content of the

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surrounding air and that of the films. For determining the moisture content, the films were cut
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into 2 cm × 2 cm square pieces and weighed. This initial weight of films containing moisture

was denoted as Wm. The films were then kept in a vacuum oven at 105oC till constant weight
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is obtained. This dry film weight was denoted as Wd. The moisture content was calculated

using the following equation:

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(𝑊𝑚 − 𝑊𝑑 )
𝑀𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 % = × 100 (1)
𝑊𝑚
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2.4.2 Water absorption

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Water absorption of a film is the measure of water absorbed until equilibrium by a film when

immersed in water. It is represented in terms of percentage with respect to weight of

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completely dried film. For determining the water absorption, the completely dried film with

weight Wd, obtained in above section, was immersed in 30 ml distilled water and the weight

gain is monitored until equilibrium is obtained. The final weight of the water saturated film at

6
equilibrium is denoted by Ww. The water absorption was calculated using the following

equation:

(𝑊𝑤 −𝑊𝑑 )
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 % = × 100 (2)
𝑊𝑑

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2.4.3 Film solubility

Solubility of the films is determined in terms of percentage of the film dry matter which is

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soluble in water. The solubility of the films was determined following earlier reported

methods with modification (Hafsa et al., 2016; Ren, Yan, Zhou, Tong, & Su, 2017). Briefly,

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the films were cut into 2 cm × 2 cm square pieces and kept in a vacuum desiccator to remove
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all moisture content from the films. The films were weighed at regular intervals till a constant
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weight is obtained which corresponds to completely dried films, and this weight was denoted
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as the initial dry weight. The films were dipped in 50 ml deionized water in a glass beaker

and were kept on constant agitation at 25oC for 24 h. Thereafter the films were removed from
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the beakers and dried at 105oC till constant weight. This weight was denoted as the final dry

weight. The solubility percentage was calculated using the following equation:
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(𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡−𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡)

𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 % = × 100 (3)
𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
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2.4.4 Film opacity

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Film opacity was measured according to the method described elsewhere (Kalaycıoğlu,

Torlak, Akın-Evingür, Özen, & Erim, 2017) using Shimadzu 1800 UV spectrophotometer,

Japan. The films were cut in rectangular pieces and were placed inside the test cell of the

7
spectrophotometer. The blank cell was used as reference. The absorbance of the films was

recorded at 600 nm and the opacity was calculated as per the following equation:

𝐴600
𝑂𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝐴600 𝑚𝑚−1 ) = 𝑑
(4)

Where, A600 is the absorbance of the film at 600 nm and d is the film thickness in mm.

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2.5 Water vapor barrier properties

To determine the water vapor barrier of the films, the gravimetric method was employed

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according to ASTM E96-80 (Parra, Tadini, Ponce, & Lugão, 2004) with slight modifications.

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Briefly, a glass jar with internal diameter 31.08 mm and exposed area 758.28 mm2 was used

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for the study. It was filled with 1 g completely dried anhydrous calcium chloride and the
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mouth was sealed with the sample films in such a way that moisture can enter the jar only
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through the film. Weight of the film sealed jar was noted and it was placed in a desiccator, set
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at 25oC, containing saturated NaCl aqueous solution. With this setup, nearly 0% relative

humidity was obtained inside the test jar due to anhydrous calcium chloride while the NaCl
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saturated solution provides 75% relative humidity externally. The changes in the jar weight

were measured and recorded regularly at an interval of 12 h for 7 days. The values of water
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vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and water vapor permeability (WVP) for each film were
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calculated according to the following equations:

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𝑤
𝑊𝑉𝑇𝑅 (𝑔 𝑚−2 𝑑−1 ) = 𝐴 ×𝑡
(5)
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𝑊𝑉𝑇𝑅 ×𝑑
𝑊𝑉𝑃 (𝑔 𝑐𝑚−1 𝑠 −1 𝑃𝑎−1 ) = 𝑝 ×(𝑅 (6)
1 − 𝑅2 )

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Where, w is the weight gained, t is the elapsed time, A is the exposed area of the film for

transmission of water vapor, d is the thickness of the film under consideration, p is the

saturation vapor pressure of water (31.7 mbar at 25oC), R1 is the relative humidity in the

desiccator outside the jar, R2 is the relative humidity inside the jar.

2.6 Mechanical properties

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The mechanical properties of the films were analyzed according to a previously defined

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method (Priyadarshi & Negi, 2017) using Frank PTI GmbH Horizontal Tensile Testing

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Machine, Germany. The films were cut in strips of 15 mm width and gauge length 100 mm

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each. The crosshead speed was set constant to 10 mm/min. Average values of at least six

specimens were used to determine the Tensile Strength, Young’s Modulus of Elasticity and
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Percent Elongation at Break for each film type.
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2.7 Antioxidant activity

The antioxidant activity of the CS and CSCG films were carried out using hydrogen peroxide
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radical scavenging assay as performed by Hafsa et al. (Hafsa et al., 2016) with some

modifications. Film extract for each film was prepared by adding 500 mg film pieces in 15 ml
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methanol and ultrasonicating the mixture for 2 h followed by centrifugation at 5000 rpm for

20 mins to collect the supernatant. A separate solution of hydrogen peroxide (40 mM) was
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prepared in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4). To determine the antioxidant activity of each film

extract, 500 μl of it was added to 3 ml of H2O2 solution and incubated at 37oC for 10 min.
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After incubation, the absorbance was measured at 230 nm using Shimadzu 1800 UV

spectrophotometer, Japan. Phosphate buffer without H2O2 were used as blank solutions.

Antioxidant activity was determined using the following equation:

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𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 (%) = [1 − (𝐴𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 ⁄𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 )] × 100 (7)

Where, Asample is the absorbance of mixture of film extract solution and H 2O2 solution, Acontrol

is absorbance of H2O2 solution without film extract.

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2.8 Thermal properties and heat degradation

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Each film sample was analysed thermo gravimetrically using Exstar TG/DTA 6300

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Thermogravimetric analyzer, Japan. Each of the film was weighed 10 mg and heated in air

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from 25oC to 800oC at constant heating rate of 10oC/min.

The changes in the surface morphology of the films with temperature were studied by Leica

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DM2500P optical microscope, Germany, mounted with Linkam hot stage assembly, UK,
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having a temperature range from 298K to 693K. The films were cut in square pieces of size 2
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mm × 2 mm and kept on the glass slide before observing under the microscope. The
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temperature was raised starting from 25oC up to 400oC, at a constant rate of 5oC/min. The

images were taken at 50x magnification at regular intervals for analysis.

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Both types of films, CS as well as CSCG, were chemically characterised using Perkin-Elmer
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Spectrum-2 FT-IR spectrophotometer, USA, in the range 4000 to 400 cm-1. The spectra was

recorded after exposing each of the films at different temperatures i.e. 25oC which is the
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room temperature, 300oC where sudden onset of blackening of the film takes place as seen in
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the hot stage microscopy (HSM) image and 400oC where complete blackening of the films

occur. The absorption bands obtained for the above mentioned three samples of each film
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were compared to determine the changes in the chemical structure of the films with

increasing temperature. A nearly similar study for neat chitosan films was also studied earlier

by Zawadzki et al. (Zawadzki & Kaczmarek, 2010). However, the hot stage microscopy

10
aided topological changes taking place in chitosan based films with temperature and its

correlation with FT-IR and thermal analysis data have been studied for the first time.

2.9 Application in green chilli packaging

The packaging efficiency of the CS and CSCG films were studied for green chillies. Flexible

rectangular pouches of 10 cm length and 7 cm width were made out of the films (figure 1).

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Three set of fresh green chillies were used: unpacked, packed in CS pouches, and packed in

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CSCG pouches. These test sets were stored at 27oC temperature in air for a period of 7 days

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and the morphological changes taking place in each one of them were determined. Similar

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method was followed by several researchers to study the effect of packaging material on shelf

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life of food products like meat (Rahman et al., 2017), bread slices (Tan et al., 2015) and fresh
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produce (Lopez et al., 2015). The practical food packaging implications of the citric acid
A
cross linked and glycerol plasticized chitosan films have been studied for the first time.
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Figure 1. Flexible pouches made of (A) CS and (B) CSCG film for packing Green Chillies

2.10 Statistical Analysis

11
The statistical analysis of the data was performed using Microsoft Excel 7.0 statistical

analysis package and all the values have been represented as mean ± standard deviation.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Film characterization and physicochemical properties

Free standing films of CS and CSCG were obtained by solvent casting method. The CS film

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was comparatively less flexible as compared to highly flexible CSCG film. This high

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flexibility was attributed to glycerol plasticizer. The successful incorporation of glycerol can

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be seen in the FE-SEM images as shown in figure 2. The CS films have a homogeneous

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appearance whereas the glycerol incorporated films CSCG have an inhomogeneous texture

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and bulges containing glycerol can be seen as areas of heterogeneity. The citric acid cross
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linking was confirmed with the help of FT-IR spectra as shown in figure 3. For CS films all
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the characteristic bands for a chitosan structure can be seen. A broad absorption band around
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3500-3400 cm-1 shows the -OH and -NH stretching vibrations while the sharp absorption

band obtained at 1631 cm-1 is attributed to amide-I vibrations of C=O stretching. The bands
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obtained around 1430-1400 cm-1 and that at 2926 cm-1 are due to C–H bending and C–H

stretching vibrations, respectively. The absorption bands in the range 1110-1040 cm-1
PT

correspond to the C–O stretching in the chitosan ring structure. For the case of CSCG, a
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nearly similar absorption band pattern was obtained at room temperature except the one at
CC

1720 cm-1 corresponding to C=O ester stretching band (Alonso et al., 2009). The FT-IR

spectra of unreacted citric acid show two characteristic peaks in the region 1680-1750cm-1
A

(Supplementary Fig. S2). But, the FT-IR spectra of cross linked CSCG does not exhibit these

characteristic peaks of citric acid but show a new peak at 1720cm-1 which corresponds to the

ester linkage formed due to cross linking. This confirms that there is no unreacted citric acid

12
present in the film and the band is due to cross linking. The presumed scheme of cross-

linking is given in Scheme 1.

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Figure 2. FE-SEM images of CS and CSCG films. U
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Figure 3. FT-IR spectra of CS and CSCG films.

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A
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Scheme 1. Cross linking between chitosan and citric acid.

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The values of moisture content, water absorption, solubility and opacity of both CS and

CSCG films are shown in Table 1(a). The results show that cross linking of the chitosan

films lead to decrease in the moisture content and water absorption of the films. The moisture
14
content and water absorption values decreased by about 29% and 87%, respectively, for

CSCG film. The chitosan polymer interacts with water due to the presence of free hydroxyl

and amine groups. Majority of these groups get consumed as they take part in the covalent

bonding with cross-linking citric acid and hence are not available thereafter for interacting

with water molecules. These limited polysaccharide-water interactions resulted in decreased

moisture content and water absorption values of the CSCG films (Hafsa et al., 2016). The

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solubility of the CSCG films got slightly enhanced to 34.42% as compared to 23.91% for CS

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films. Although this increment is 43% and can be perceived to be substantial, the solubility

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value of CSCG can still be considered as low as per the studies conducted in the past (Hafsa

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et al., 2016). Although it is assumed that solubility and water absorption are opposite

U
behaviors of a material, it is not absolutely true but up to some extent. In the case of chitosan
N
based films, factors like degree of deacetylation plays a major role on its solubility and water
A
absorption properties. If the degree of deacetylation is low, the polymer tends to absorb the
M

solvent. However, as the degree of deacetylation increases, the solubility also increases (Cho,

Jang, Park, & Ko, 2000). The degree of deacetylation of chitosan is never 100% and this
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biopolymer is always partially deacetylated. For the chitosan used in the current study, the

degree of deacetylation is approximately 75%. Hence, it is able to show both the behaviors,
PT

solubility as well as water absorption, but not simultaneously. According to Tuna et al. (Tuna,

Keyf, Gumus, & Uzun, 2008), the solvent molecules are firstly absorbed by the polymers
E
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which penetrate the macromolecular network, hence forcing the polymer chains apart. The

loosening of the polymer structure takes place due to this force which leads to the release of
A

matrix components into the environment after some exposure time, and hence, initiation of

solubility. Opacity is another important property to be considered in case of a food packaging

film. Generally, more transparent films are preferred in food packaging which allows the

consumers to have a look at the product packed inside it. This makes the overall package
15
more lucrative to the consumer and plays a role in its marketing. The opacity of cross linked

and plasticised chitosan films decreased, and hence transparency increased, by 81%. Also, the

opacity of the chitosan based films were observed and were found to lie in the same range as

reported in the earlier studies (Ren et al., 2017).

3.2 Water vapor barrier properties

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Water vapor transmission properties are important to food packaging context. The packed

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food is greatly influenced by the amount of moisture that passes through the packaging

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material. In case of dry food packaging, a moisture barrier is required to prevent moisture

SC
present in the environment from entering the food packet and deteriorate food quality. It is

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also important in case of fresh produce packaging where the barrier keeps the moisture from
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leaving the food material resulting in its dehydration. Table 1(b) shows the values of WVTR
A
and WVP for CSCG as compared to that of CS films. The CSCG films show 5.5% and 29%
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reduced WVTR and WVP values, respectively. Similar results were obtained by Reddy et al.

for glycerol plasticized and citric acid cross linked starch films (Reddy & Yang, 2010).
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Glycerol as a plasticizer can increase the intramolecular distance in the chitosan films hence

making it less dense. Also, the hydrophilic character of glycerol due to the free hydroxyl
PT

group in its structure can enhance the adsorption and desorption of moisture leading to

enhanced water vapor transmission (Mei, Yuan, Wu, & Li, 2013). However, citric acid as a
E
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strong cross linker can reduce the availability of free hydroxyl and amine group in the

chitosan structure. Also the formation of a denser network prevents the chitosan from
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swelling and hence reducing water vapor transmission through the film (Reddy & Yang,

2010). Due to this, the effect of glycerol is curtailed and the overall value of water vapor

transmission gets decreased.

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Table 1. Physicochemical, Water vapor barrier, Mechanical and Antioxidant properties of CS and CSCG film

FILM TYPE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES WATER VAPOR MECHANICAL PROPERTIES ANTIOXIDANT

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BARRIER PROPERTIES ACTIVITY
Moisture Water Solubility Opacity WVTR WVP Elongation Tensile Tensile Modulus

N
content (%) Absorption (%) (%) (A600/mm) (g m-2 d-1) (× 1012 g cm- (%) Strength (MPa)
1 -1
s Pa-1) (MPa)

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CS 22.14 ± 0.99 495.24 ± 11.34 23.91 ± 1.38 1.716 ± 0.002 841 ± 93 3.27 ± 0.36 2.22 ± 0.83 52.22 ± 4.21 3221.2 ± 345.71 12.40 ± 0.58

CSCG 15.70 ± 0.97

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63.20 ± 2.48 34.42 ± 1.49 0.320 ± 0.002 795 ± 74 2.32 ± 0.21 26.43 ± 2.62 9.48 ± 1.35 42.84 ± 3.41 29.80 ± 0.57
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17
3.3 Mechanical properties

Mechanical properties play an important role in food packaging process. The packaging

material must possess suitable strength to resist the mechanical stress and maintain its

integrity during shipping, handling and storage. Mechanical properties of the CS and CSCG

films are summarized in Table 1(c). It can be seen that the incorporation of cross linker and

plasticizer resulted in a tremendous change in the mechanical properties of the chitosan films.

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The CSCG films show a 12 times increase in the elongation percentage as compared to that

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of the neat chitosan films. However, the values of tensile strength and Young’s modulus

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displayed a humongous decrease by 82% and 98%, respectively.

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The values obtained in the current study are in accordance with the trend followed by the

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studies performed so far. The small sized glycerol molecules penetrate the polymer chain
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leading to weakening of the inter-chain interactions hence causing plasticization effect (Su,
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Huang, Yuan, Wang, & Li, 2010) resulting in increased elongation at break and decreased

tensile strength of chitosan films with increasing glycerol concentration (Kołodziejska &
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Piotrowska, 2007). Also, a decrease in the Young’s modulus value indicates that the films
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become more flexible on glycerol incorporation.

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3.4 Antioxidant activity

Oxidation is a chain reaction where free radicals are produced which lead to cell damage and
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is a major cause of loss in the food industry. The oxidation of food makes it unsuitable for

consumption and thus its prevention is an essential requirement. Antioxidants are chemical
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components that react with free radicals and hence decrease or inhibit the oxidation process

by preventing the chain reaction from propagating. They are either synthetic i.e. synthesized

from artificial chemicals, or can be natural i.e. extracted from biological sources. Active food

packaging materials have been the recent focus of food packaging researchers. Addition of
18
antioxidants to the food packaging material is one of the strategies to render activity to the

latter against oxidizing agents, hence preserving packed food. There have been reports where

the antioxidant activity of citric acid have been studied and it is seen that this natural organic

acid can show some antioxidant activity (Hraš, Hadolin, Knez, & Bauman, 2000). The citric

acid cross linked films thus shows antioxidant effect against hydrogen peroxide, which is

evident from table 1(d). The CSCG films show 29.8% antioxidant activity as compared to

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CS films that show only 12.4% activity. This corresponds to an approximately 2.5 fold

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enhancement in antioxidant activity of chitosan films on citric acid incorporation. Although

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hydrogen peroxide is not itself a free radical, it is a strong oxidizing agent and can produce

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highly reactive hydroxyl free radicals. H2O2 can easily cross the cell membranes and results

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in cytotoxicity leading to fresh food oxidation. Thus, removal of H2O2 from food contact
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becomes an essential part of food packaging (Nabavi, Ebrahimzadeh, Nabavi, Hamidinia, &
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Bekhradnia, 2008).
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3.5 Thermal properties and degradation

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An attempt has been made to study the thermal properties of CS and CSCG films, and the

changes taking place in the chemical structure were determined with increase in temperature.
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Also the real time morphological changes in the films were monitored aided by HSM. The

FTIR spectra of the films were taken to determine the change in their chemical nature when
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exposed to temperature. The Thermogravimetric analysis of the two films were also carried

out and compared.

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The TGA-DTG of the films (Figure 4) was carried out to determine their thermal degradation

pattern. The TGA pattern of CS (Figure 4a) shows its characteristic four step degradation

pattern in air (Priyadarshi & Negi, 2017). The initial mass loss up to 105oC corresponds to the

loss of water and other volatile material. The second step degradation, that determines the
19
onset of structural degradation in CS, reached a maximum at 395oC which represents the

amine decomposition. The third step degradation which is due to the decomposition of -

CH2OH groups went up to a maximum of 500oC. The total degradation of CS ring is

responsible for the appearance of the fourth degradation step, corresponding to the

degradation of cyclic ether present in the chitosan ring. However, the degradation pattern of

CSCG (Figure 4b) shows differences due to the citric acid and glycerol incorporation. It can

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also be observed from the DTG pattern of the films that the second step degradation of CSCG

IP
film, which corresponds to the amine degradation, takes place at a relatively lower

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temperature than that of CS film. However, abrupt fourth step degradation is observed with a

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large weight loss within a small temperature window. This is presumed to be because of the

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breaking of cross linked C-O-C bonds along with the cyclic C-O-C in the chitosan ring
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structure as in the case of CS film.
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Fig.4. TGA-DTG pattern of (a) CS and (b) CSCG films

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The HSM images of the two films were taken starting from 25 oC up to 400oC and the images

were captured at regular intervals (Figure 5A and 5B). It can be observed that the CS film

remains intact and no major changes were seen in its morphology below 250oC. A rise in

20
temperature above 250oC leads to gradual blackening of films which is a sign of their burning

or thermal degradation (Figure 5Ad). On the other hand, the CSCG film shows a decreased

degradation onset temperature around 200oC (Figure 5Bc). Since, the upper temperature

limit of HSM is 400oC, the oxidative degradation of carbonaceous residue, which takes place

between 450-700oC, could not be observed (Wang et al., 2005). However, the TGA

thermograms show the degradation of the films above this temperature and are complemented

T
by the FTIR data. The decrease in thermal stability of the films after incorporation of citric

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acid and glycerol is in accordance with their TGA patterns. However, unlike CS film, the

R
complete blackening of the CSCG film was not observed which is also explained with the

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help of FTIR spectra as a consequence of citric acid cross-linking.

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A
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21
Figure 5. HSM images of (A) CS and (B) CSCG films at (a) 25oC, (b) 150oC, (c) 200oC, (d)

250oC, (e) 300oC, and (f) 400oC

The FT-IR spectra of the films obtained at 25oC, 300oC and 400oC are reported. For CS

(Figure 6A), at 25oC all the characteristic absorption bands of chitosan are visible (Vimala et

al., 2010). As the temperature was increased up to 400oC, the bands 2927 cm-1 and 1460-

T
1402 cm-1 gradually disappeared suggesting the degradation of C–H bond of the CH2OH side

IP
chain of chitosan ring while the disappearance of the band at 1110-1040 cm-1 suggests the

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degradation of chitosan ring at the C–O–C position.

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Figure 6. FT-IR spectra of (A) CS and (B) CSCG films at (a) 25oC, (b) 300oC and (c) 400oC
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For the case of CSCG, a nearly similar absorption band pattern was obtained at room
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temperature (Figure 6B), except the one at 1720 cm-1 corresponding to C=O ester stretching
A

band which is attributed to the citric acid cross-linking of the chitosan chains (Alonso et al.,

2009). The band disappearance pattern up to 400oC was also the same as the degradation of

CS, except that of the band at around 1460-1402 cm-1 corresponding to C–H bending

22
vibrations. This may be due to the citric acid cross-linking at CH2OH side chain of chitosan

as the band at 1720 cm-1 was still apparent.

It can be observed from the TGA thermograms that the initial weight loss which is attributed

to water loss is around 10-12% in case to both the films. However, for CS films, the loss

occurred at 105oC while for the CSCG films, it took place at 150oC. This may be attributed to

glycerol incorporation which binds to the moisture present in the films hence making it

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difficult for it to escape. The requirement of a greater amount of energy for breaking this

IP
interaction leads to temperature elevation (Debandi, Bernal, & Francois, 2016). The second

R
step degradation due to amine groups of the chitosan structure, as observed form the DTG

SC
pattern of the films, shows much lesser weight loss for CSCG film as compared to that of CS

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film. This is presumed to be due to the citric acid cross-linking with the amine group of the
N
chitosan structure in CSCG (Lusiana, Siswanta, & Mudasir, 2016). The final step degradation
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of CSCG films, unlike that of the CS films, also show a large weight loss with small
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temperature change. This may be due to the sudden breaking of the cross linked structure

between citric acid and chitosan. This phenomenon takes place beyond 500oC hence could
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not be observed by HSM.

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3.6 Packaging application on Green Chillies

The food packaging potential of the CS and CSCG films were evaluated by using Green
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Chillies. Being a type of live fresh produce, continuous metabolic activities and respiration

takes place in green chillies and the ripening process can be observed clearly through change
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in their color. Also the loss is moisture from chillies lead to surface wrinkling resulting from

loss of turgidity by the cells. The changes in the morphological features of three set of

chillies, (1) unpacked, (2) packed in CS pouches, (3) packed in CSCG pouches, after 7 days

of storage can be seen in Figure 7. On the first day (figure 7 A, B and C), all the chillies
23
were bright green in color and had a smooth glossy texture. They were high on moisture

content with fully turgid cells and no wrinkles on the surface. After 7 days of storage, the

unpacked chilli (figure 7 D) shows dull and dry texture and the highest moisture loss. The

color of the chilli changed from green to yellowish red showing the deterioration in its

quality. However, the chilli packed in CSCG pouches (figure 7 F), was observed to be high

on moisture content and not much wrinkling was observed. It displayed more of the green

T
color as compared to yellow or red and hence was better in quality as compared to the

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unpacked one. The chilli packed in CS pouches (figure 7 E), showed intermediate results. It

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was still greener in color on the 7th day, but was dried and wrinkled. The retention of

SC
moisture by the chilli packed in CSCG film pouch goes in accordance to the results of water

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vapor permeability, there CSCG showed a higher moisture barrier preventing the loss of
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moisture from the packed food item.
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Figure 7. Illustration of quality improvement of Green Chilli when stored without packaging

(A and D), packed in CS films (B and E) and CSCG films (C and F) for 7 days of storage.
24
4. Conclusions

The current study involves successful fabrication of chitosan films incorporated with citric

acid cross linker and glycerol plasticizer. FT-IR and FE-SEM studies confirm successful

cross linking and glycerol incorporation, respectively. The properties of this modified film

were compared with that of the neat chitosan film and a significant improvement was

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observed. The modified films displayed better water resistance due to cross linking as the

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values of moisture content and water absorption were decreased. A high water vapor barrier

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was also observed for the modified films. However, the solubility increased slightly which

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may be due to the unbound glycerol. The films also displayed enhanced transparency,

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flexibility, thermal properties and antioxidant activity, which are important attributes of a
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food packaging material. Green chillies packed in these modified films were preserved for a
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longer period as compared to those packed in neat chitosan films. The promising results of
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the study suggest that the films can be conveniently used as active pouches for shelf life

extension, not only for green chillies, but also for other fresh produce.
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Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Ministry of Human Resource and

Development, Government of India for providing the financial support to carry out this
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research work.
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