An pH-responsive, antibacterial and controlled-release microcapsule constructed with gelatin, peach gum and hyaluronic acid for chicken breast preservation.

Authors

Xiuxiu Chen, Yan Feng, Xinyu Luan, Yunrui Liu, Huaiyuan Zhang, Zhanli Liu

Published in

Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.). Volume 242. Issue Pt 2. Pages 119798. Oct 31, 2026. Epub Jul 08, 2026.

Abstract

The preservation of meat is a challenging topic in the food industry. This study developed an alkali-responsive microcapsule (HCM) based on peach gum (PG), gelatin (GE), and hyaluronic acid (HA), aiming to extend the shelf life of chicken breast. A maximum encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 85.62% was achieved for the microcapsules when the HA concentration was increased to 0.5%. Molecular docking revealed a stable hydrogen bond array between HA and the GE-PG matrix. In a pH 7.0-9.0 buffer solution, the release amount of CEO in HCM_0.5 increased with the rise of pH, indicating excellent pH-responsive release properties. The Kopcha model was the best-fitting model to describe the release behavior of HCM_0.5 in ammonia solutions of different concentrations. HCM_0.5 demonstrated significant pH-responsive antibacterial and antioxidant activities. This was particularly evident at pH 9, where it achieved marked inhibition rates of 98.6 ± 0.3% against E. coli and 99.2 ± 0.4% against S. aureus. The ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities of HCM_0.5 were 24.6 ± 0.00% and 79.6 ± 0.01%, respectively. In the chicken breast preservation experiment, after 8 d of storage, the pH of the chicken breast in the HCM_0.5 group was 6.18 ± 0.01, the TVC was 6.61 ± 0.50 log CFU/g, the TVB-N was 11.86 ± 0.47 mg/100 g, and the TBARS was 0.85 ± 0.01 mg MDA/kg. The results indicated that HCM_0.5 significantly suppressed bacterial growth, inhibited lipid oxidation, and effectively delayed the spoilage of chicken breast during storage. Microbial community analysis revealed that the growth of Bacteroidota and Bacillota in chicken breast was effectively suppressed by HCM_0.5, which also led to a marked reduction in microbial diversity. These findings demonstrated that HCM_0.5 effectively extended the shelf life of chicken breast by 4 days compared with the control group, thereby providing a new strategy for meat preservation.

PMID:
42632656
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Aug 2026.

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