ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Bio-Packaging: Enhancing Food Safety and Shelf-LifeView all articles
Performance Characteristics of Chitosan ε-Polylysine Composite Films and Their Application in Tuna Shelf-Life Extension
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China
- 2GuangXi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China
- 3Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- 4Zhejiang Pharmaceutical University, Ningbo, China
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This study systematically evaluates the synergistic preservation effects of chitosan-ε-polylysine (ε-CS-PL) composite films on refrigerated yellowfin tuna. Through quantitative analysis of myoglobin (Mb) oxidation, microbial growth, lipid stability, and biochemical spoilage indicators, we demonstrate that ε-PL significantly inhibits Mb oxidation, retaining 49.1 g/kg metmyoglobin (Met) content in the ε-PL-0.15 group by day 8—nearly double that of untreated controls (26.5 g/kg). Lipid oxidation (TBA values: 0.55 vs. 0.73 mg/100g) and nucleotide degradation (K value: 22.3 vs. 36.7) were markedly delayed, while color stability (a* value: 5.79 vs. 2.97) was preserved. During the 10-day experiment, the composite film reduced the accumulation of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) by 43% (control group: 25.6 vs. 44.7 mg/100g).Meanwhile, in terms of antibacterial performance, the microbial count was ultimately suppressed to 6.3 log CFU/g (compared to 7.8 log CFU/g in the control group) through the broad-spectrum antibacterial effect of ε-polylysine (ε-PL) during the 12-day experiment.These results indicate that the CS-ε-PL film is a multifunctional preservation system, combining the barrier properties of chitosan with the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of ε -PL, significantly extending the shelf life of tuna under refrigerated (4°C) conditions
Keywords: antioxidant, Fish freshness, Myoglobin Degradation, SpoilageIndicators, ε-Polylysine and Chitosan
Received: 13 Dec 2025; Accepted: 27 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Gao, Lu, Tao, Kraithong, Fang, Lan and Deng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jingrong Gao
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