The main objective of this work was to develop bio-based and biodegradable bilayer systems with antioxidant properties. The outer layer was based on a compression-molded poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)-based material while antioxidant electrospun fibers based on poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) blends formed the inner active layer. In particular, PLA was blended with 25 wt% of PHB to increase the crystallinity of the fibers and reduce the fiber defects. Moreover, in order to increase the stretchability and to facilitate the electrospinning process of the fiber mats, 15 wt% of oligomeric lactic acid was added as a plasticizer. This system was further loaded with 1 wt% and 3 wt% of catechin, a natural flavonoid with antioxidant activity, to obtain antioxidant-active mats for active food packaging applications. The obtained bilayer systems showed effective catechin release capacity into a fatty food simulant. While the released catechin showed antioxidant effectiveness. Finally, bilayer films showed appropriate disintegration in compost conditions in around three months. Thus, showing their potential as bio-based and biodegradable active packaging for fatty food products.

This research was funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICINN, Spain), the Agencia Nacional de Investigación (AEI, Spain) and el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, EU), project number MAT2017-88123-P. M.P. Arrieta thanks Universidad Complutense de Madrid for her postdoctoral contract (Ayuda posdoctoral de formación en docencia e investigación en los Departamentos de la UCM). L. Peponi thanks MICINN for her “Ramon y Cajal” contract RYC-2014-15595.

We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)

Peer reviewed