New article published in Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces on Green bleaching of fungal nanochitin to enhance the functional properties of food packaging materials!

Fungal chitin nanofibrils (ChNFs) can be bleached using H₂O₂ to address the brown color of native fungal chitin and develop sustainable packaging materials. Interestingly, bleaching enhances the mechanical reinforcement effect of nanochitin, while coatings of bleached nanochitin applied to fresh strawberries delay enzymatic degradation more effectively than control and PVA-coated strawberries. This is the result of a collaborative work with Madalen Azpitarte Aretxabaleta and Erlantz Lizundia of the Life Cycle Thinking Research Group at the University of the Basque Country.

Check the Open Access work here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927776525005041