Browsing by Author "Li, Qian"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Active chitosan films containing Zingiber officinale Roscoe essential oil for Aspergillus flavus inhibition and peanut butter preservation
    (Elsevier, 2026-05-14) Zhang, Yiming; Li, Qian; Fred, Mwabulili; Xiao, Hongying; Wang, Jianhua
    Peanut butter, particularly homemade varieties lacking antioxidants, is highly susceptible to oxidation, posing risks during processing, storage, and consumption. To address this, this study developed a novel chitosan film incorporated with Zingiber officinale Roscoe essential oil (GEO) to evaluate its antifungal properties and impact on peanut butter preservation. Results demonstrated that GEO acted as a potent inhibitor against Aspergillus flavus with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 8 μL/mL. Additionally, the antioxidant activity of the composite films increased with higher GEO concentrations. Physical assessments revealed these films possessed greater thickness and moisture content, alongside reduced water solubility and swelling compared to controls. The films' preservation efficacy was tested on peanut butter stored at 40 ◦C for 21 days. The composite films effectively maintained texture properties, closely matching the hardness, cohesiveness, and gumminess of fresh peanut butter, while delaying adhesiveness increases. Furthermore, treatments with the highest GEO concentration significantly alleviated lipid and protein oxidation. This was evidenced by minimal increases in peroxide, acid, thiobarbituric acid values, and carbonyl content, alongside unchanged fatty acid and amino acid compositions, and stable protein electrophoresis band intensities. Sensory evaluations confirmed excellent overall acceptability comparable to fresh samples, proving this non-contact preservation method highly promising.