Oxidative control of butterfat using tragacanth gum nanofibrous mats containing Persian lime peel extract

The aims of the present experiment were to encapsulate Persian lime peel extract (LPE) into the tragacanth gum (TG) nanofibers using an electrospinning technique and investigate their utilization as antioxidant packaging in controlling the lipid oxidation of fresh butterfat during prolonged shelf-life storage. The tensile strength, Young’s modulus, elongation at breaks, and water vapor permeability of TG nanofibrous mats were in the range of 3.77–4.54 MPa, 39.53–68.64 MPa, 7.75-10.33%, and 6.25–14.12 × 10^‾5 g mm/m² h Pa, respectively. The lag phases of the peroxide value, p-anisidine value, and acid value for both treated butterfat samples with TG + LPE 1% and TG + LPE 3% nanofiber mats were determined to be 20 days, suggesting that the developed nanofiber mats can be successfully applied as antioxidant packaging materials for retarding the oxidation changes of fresh butterfat in the food industries.