enhancing the shelf life of white leg shrimp with antibacterial nanoparticles

Zinc oxide (zno) nanoparticles are one of the antimicrobial compounds used as safe additives in food for human consumption and in food packaging coatings due to their preserving food color, preventing spoilage, and enhancing packaging material properties. in this study, we attempted to improve the shelf life of l. vannamei at refrigerator temperature by using gelatin/alginate composite coatings with zno nanoparticles. five treatments were considered: control: shrimps dipped in sterile distilled water؛ sms: shrimps dipped in sodium metabisulfite solution؛ c: shrimps dipped in a coated solution of sodium alginate/gelatin؛ zno2.5: shrimps treated in c with 2.5% zinc oxide nanoparticles and zno5: shrimp treated in c with 5% zinc oxide nanoparticles. the result showed that the count of mesophilic aerobic bacteria on the first day of storage was approximately 3.3 log cfu/g, which gradually increased during the storage period in all treatments (p < 0.05). zinc oxide nanoparticles demonstrated antimicrobial properties against pseudomonas. during the storage period, the control treatment showed the highest number of lactic acid bacteria from day 0 to day 8 (p < 0.05). however, the treatment of zinc oxide nanoparticles, particularly zno5, demonstrated the lowest growth of lab throughout the storage period. therefore, the zno nanoparticles can react to bacteria cell wall and their cell content and resulted antimicrobial properties, which inhibited protein degradation by reducing bacterial growth.