Herein, the investigation demonstrates the first report
on the
use of a novel coat of chitosan–acetylated gallic acid nanoparticles
(CAG-NPs) along with pulsed light treatment for food preservation
with prolonged shelf life, maintaining good nutritional integrity
in comparison to chitosan and chitosan–gallic acid nanoparticles
or chitosan gallate (CG-NPs). Acetylation was made to overcome the
high solubility problem of the CG-NP food coat, which was difficult
for commercialization. A number of characterization techniques were
used to confirm the structural integrity of CAG-NPs such as nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy
(UV–vis), dynamic light scattering (DLS), powder X-ray diffraction
(PXRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The
DPPH assay was performed to determine the remarkable 69% scavenging
rate of the synthesized CAG-NPs. Antimicrobial activity was checked,
and it was found that CAG-NP was highly efficient against food spoilage
pathogens. Subsequently, the synergistic impact of the CAG-NP coat
and pulsed light treatment was investigated, referring to papaya as
the model food for its preservation. Nutritional analyses were conducted
following standard protocols such as the phenol–sulfuric acid,
biuret, and standard Soxhlet method followed by a rigorous statistical
assessment involving Python3, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey
tests to gauge the significance. Determination of physical and chemical
qualities was conducted utilizing established protocols such as weight
loss measurement, total soluble solids (TSSs), pH, and ascorbic acid
content estimation method for finding the significance of the CAG-NP
edible coat over others such as CG-NPs, chitosan along with or without
pulsed light treatment. The CAG-NPs show an average diameter of 295
nm, confirmed by the DLS experimental data.