Fabrication of Electrospun Persian Gum/Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) and Whey Protein Isolate/Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) Nanofibers Incorporated with Oliveria decumbens Vent. Essential Oil

Introduction: In this study, Persian gum/poly (vinyl alcohol) nanofiber and whey protein isolate/ poly (vinyl alcohol) nanofiber were fabricated using electrospinning system. Materials & Methods: The effects of supplementation of Oliveria decumbens Vent. essential oil on the physicochemical and biological characteristics of the nanofibers were investigated by applying the techniques including antioxidant activity measurement, scanning electron microscopy, viscosity and conductivity tests, and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Results: The results showed that the incorporation of 1% Oliveria decumbens Vent. essential oil to the polymer dispersions causes the formation of thin nanofibers with the least beads. Both types of nanofibers containing essential oil exhibited significant radical scavenging activities up to 76.82±0.36% and 61.09±0.13% for whey protein isolate/poly (vinyl alcohol) nanofiber and Persian gum/poly (vinyl alcohol) nanofiber, respectively. Conclusion: The results of fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy proposed the structurally incorporation of the essential oil into nanofibers to be considered as novel coating film for active packaging technology.