Preparation and characterization of pullulan derivative/chitosan composite film for potential antimicrobial applications

Antimicrobial food-packaging films can improve the safety of food and prolong shelf life. In the present work, we first prepared the pullulan derivative and then added chitosan to form a pullulan derivative/chitosan composite film. The active amino groups on the pullulan derivative backbone and chitosan impart antimicrobial activity against S. aureus. Also, the addition of chitosan made the composite film show reasonable mechanical properties, when the ratio of pullulan derivative:chitosan = 2:8 and the tensile strength was 21 MPa. The composite film also behaved with the excellent film-forming property, Water vapor barrier, and light barrier properties. This work is opening the door on preparing a novel antibacterial packaging film.