Aplicação da técnica de blowspinning na fibrilação de gelatina de tilápia (Oreochromis niloticus) com ácido ferúlico para produção de bioproduto antioxidante

Abstract

Alternatives aimed at the use of waste have been increasingly sought after, with a view to mitigating undesirable environmental impacts. In this context, it is known that the production of fish is an activity that generates a large amount of waste and thus, it is necessary to reuse this raw material, which is a source of various biopolymers with multiple applications and functional properties. In this context, nanotechnology has emerged as a way to explore the potential of biomaterials due to their versatility and wide range of uses, including the production of nanofibers. Recently, crosslinking has also been widely used in order to improve the characteristics of these materials, especially with the use of natural crosslinking agents. Given the above, the aim of this study was to prepare gelatin nanofibers from tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with incorporation of ferulic acid through the blow spinning technique and characterize them in terms of FTIR, DSC, solubility, viscosity, degree of crosslinking, in vitro release, antioxidant activity and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The nanofibers containing ferulic acid showed excellent antioxidant activity, ranging between 71.47 and 90.49%. The vibrational spectra (FTIR) showed a displacement of the peaks, mainly in Amida III, indicating a possible interaction between the A.F. and gelatin molecules, which was confirmed by analyzing the degree of crosslinking. The diameters found were 882.18, 1060.66, 984.23 and 1660.99 nm for the control nanofibers and with 5, 7.5 and 10% of A.F. respectively, and it was observed that the morphology was influenced by the addition of the crosslinker, with the formation of droplets and nanofibrous aggregates and increases in diameter. The DSC thermograms showed displacement of the peaks referring to Tg and Tm in relation to the control and showed a good indication of improvements in thermal resistance after addition of ferulic acid. The nanofibers also presented a good A.F. release profile, and their addition also made the viscosity of the spinning solutions more suitable for the system used. Due to their good properties, the nanofibers obtained in this study are suitable candidates for the preparation of biopackaging in the food sector.