Electrospun polylactic acid nanofiber film modified by silver oxide deposited on hemp fibers for antibacterial fruit packaging

Bacterial and fungal contamination have become major factors in fruit spoilage and damage, posing a potential risk to human health. In this work, polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibers combined with Ag₂O-hemp fibers for a good antimicrobial effect were developed and applied to antimicrobial fruit fresh-keeping packages. The results of molecular simulation calculations showed that the strength of hydrogen bonds between Ag₂O and hemp fibers reached 45.522 kJ·mol^-1, which proved that Ag₂O and with hemp fibers formed a stable deposition. The Ag₂O-hemp fibers modified electrospun polylactic acid nanofibrous composite film exhibited favorable mechanical properties. The tensile strength reached 5.23 ± 0.05 MPa and the elongation at break reached 105.56 ± 3.95 %. The obtained nanofibrous composite film has good antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, A. niger, and Penicillium, which indicated that they could effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi. The cell experiments proved that the nanofibrous composite film had good biocompatibility with a cell survival rate of 100 %. The experimental results on the fresh-keeping of red grapes showed that the PLA nanofibrous composite film modified by the Ag₂O-hemp fibers could effectively prolong the spoilage time of red grapes at room temperature. Compared with the blank group, the freshness period of PLA nanofiber film modified by Ag₂O-hemp fibers could be extended for more than 5 days. The hardness of 15 days (1.94 ± 0.19 × 10⁵ Pa) was basically the same as that of 1 day (2.05 ± 0.06 × 10⁵ Pa). The results were superior to commercially available PE preservation films. The above research results indicated that the Ag₂O-hemp fibers modified PLA nanofibrous composite film had potential application prospects in the field of fruit fresh-keeping package.