Curcumin-loaded nanoMOFs@CMFP: A biological preserving paste with antibacterial properties and long-acting, controllable release

[Display omitted] •A novel preserving paste composed of curcumin-loaded MOFs@CMFP is prepared.•Curcumin loaded in MOFs@CMFP has greater chemical stability than free curcumin.•MOFs@CMFP can be used for long-acting and controllable delivery of curcumin.•Curcumin-loaded MOFs@CMFP can effectively prolong the shelf life of pitaya. Food spoilage is one of the biggest concerns for food safety worldwide. Here, we describe the construction of a carrier for biological agents by chemical combination of porous nanoMOFs and carboxymethylated filter paper (CMFP). When curcumin was encapsulated in nanoMOFs@CMFP, they showed the ability to act as super-long-acting food preserving agents with controllable release of curcumin. Although only 22.3% of curcumin was released into water in 600 h, 65.8% was released into PBS in the same time, and the release into PBS could be tuned by adding citric acid at the time of greatest requirement. Furthermore, the chemical stability of curcumin in nanoMOFs@CMFP was >4.9 times greater than for free curcumin. The outstanding antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of curcumin-loaded nanoMOFs@CMFP paste was demonstrated by prolonging the shelf life of pitayas, which illustrates its potential for development as long-acting and stable preserving paste for use in food preservation.