Fabrication of collagen-sodium alginate based antibacterial and edible packaging material: Performance evaluation using Entropy-Combined Compromise Solution (CoCoSo)

In this research, we developed two alternative packaging materials: collagen-sodium alginate-pomegranate peel powder (CSP) and collagen-sodium alginate-chitosan (CSC), leveraging solid waste from both the leather and food industries. A comparative analysis was done between CSP and CSC film to evaluate their efficacy and potentiality as sustainable packaging material. CSC film showed reduced water solubility (39.4 %), water vapor transmission rate (27.3 gh^-1m^-2), and opacity (0.6 A₆₀₀/mm) along with improved contact angle (69.7°) compared to CSP film. However, CSP film exhibited improved mechanical strength (10.9 MPa) and biodegradability (72.1 %) along with reduced oxygen permeability (0.6 meq/kg) compared to CSC film. Furthermore, CSP and CSC films showed significant inhibitory effect against two commonly available pathogen strains. A hybrid Entropy-Combined Compromise Solution (CoCoSo) analysis results demonstrated the superior performance of CSC films (γi=3.049) as packaging material. The edibility of the film was confirmed through pathogen test, in vitro cytotoxicity and stimulated digestibility assays. Additionally, from the thermal analysis it is apparent that the optimum degradation temperature for CSC film was 584 °C which is higher than any other green packaging material reported in the literature. Therefore, this study can pave the way for the fabrication of thermally stable edible packaging material from waste sources.