Abstract: Supercritical solution impregnation (SSI) was employed to prepare eugenol (EG)-loaded chitosan film (CSF) for active food packaging. The effects of impregnation pressure and depressurization rate on the loading capacity (LC) of EG-CSF were investigated, and the properties of EG-CSF such as morphology, water uptake (WU), water vapor permeability (WVP), and antibacterial activity were characterized. The results showed that the LC increased with the elevation of impregnation pressure, but decreased with the increase of depressurization rate, and the maximum LC of 6.02% were achieved at 20 MPa and 1 MPa/min. The WU and WVP of EG-CSF decreased after undergoing the SSI process. EG-CSF had good antibacterial activity against Staphlycoccus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The eugenol-loaded chitosan film prepared by SSI could be promising for application in active food packaging.

Key words: supercritical solution impregnation, eugenol, chitosan, antibacterial activity, active food packaging