The cocoon shell-inspired packaging for Mongolian cheese preservation

Biomimetic and bioinspiration have grown as burgeoning research frontier in many fields. But few studies have introduced such ideas into food preservation area. Herein, inspired by the cocoon shell, silk fibroin (SF), Poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were respectively mixed and prepared into biomimetic nanofibers on the surface of Mongolian cheese via electrospinning technology. The morphology, mechanical property and water vapour permeability of prepared biomimetic nanofibers were characterized. The acquired results revealed that the addition of SF promoted the uniformity coefficient, and flexibility of composite nanofibers. The influence of biomimetic nanofibers coated Mongolian cheese on physicochemical and microbiological properties was evaluated during 8 d storage at (25 °C ± 1 °C). Mongolian cheese with PVA/SF(in)/PLLA/SF(out) nanofibers performed well in retarding proteolysis and fat precipitation, and exhibited the lowest total viable counts (5.9 log CFU/g) on the 8th day. Thus, this work provides a novel design to construct biomimetic packaging for Mongolian cheese preservation.