Development of Edible Composite Film from Fish Gelatin–Pectin Incorporated with Lemongrass Essential Oil and Its Application in Chicken Meat

One of the greatest challenges encountered by the food industry is the loss of quality of food products during storage, especially perishable foods such as chicken breast, which eventually adds to the waste. Edible films are known as a potential alternative to maintain food quality and also improve shelf life by delaying the microbial spoilage and providing moisture and gas barrier properties. Developments in edible films from biopolymer composites such as fish gelatin, pectin and essential oils have great potential and promising results in enhancing the shelf life of food products. This study was conducted to determine the effect of adding pectin and lemongrass essential oil on the properties of gelatin film and its application to preserve the quality of chicken breast. In this study, the fish skin gelatin and pectin were used with various compositions (100:0; 75:25; 50:50), with and without the addition of lemongrass essential oil to develop edible films by a casting method. The results showed that the fish gelatin–pectin with the addition of essential oils caused a significant influence on several physicochemical properties such as the thickness, transmittance, transparency, water content, tensile strength, elongation at break and also antioxidant activity (p < 0.05). The antibacterial activity evaluation showed that edible film from a biocomposite of gelatin–pectin (75:25 and 50:50) with the addition of essential oil had an inhibitory effect on Salmonella. The biocomposite of the edible film made from gelatin–pectin and the addition of lemongrass essential oil have the potential to be developed as a food packaging material, especially for perishable food. Based on the result of the application of edible film to chicken breast, it also could maintain the quality of chicken breast during storage.