Razi University

Conducted by Researchers at Razi University:

Development of Smart Biodegradable Aerogels for the Detection of Food Spoilage

Researchers at Razi University, in collaboration with the University of Alberta, Canada, have

successfully developed smart biodegradable aerogels capable of visually detecting the freshness and spoilage of rainbow trout fillets during refrigerated storage, without the need for laboratory equipment

This research, entitled “Intelligent aerogels based on corn starch–chitosan containing montmorillonite nanoparticles and Chrysanthemum indicum petal anthocyanins: preparation, characterization, and application in monitoring food spoilage,” was conducted by Mehregan Asadi (DVM doctoral student, Razi University), Dr. Yaser Shahbazi (faculty member, Department of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Razi University), Dr. Nasim Shaveisi (faculty member, Department of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Razi University), Dr. Farzad Dabirian (faculty member, Department of Textile Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Razi University), and Dr. Aman Ullah (Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Alberta, Canada). The study was published in the international journal Food and Bioprocess Technology (ISI/JCR, Q1, impact .factor 8.5), published by Springer Nature

In this dissertation, the research team fabricated biodegradable aerogels sensitive to pH, ammonia vapor, and biogenic amines using corn starch and chitosan polymers, along with montmorillonite nanoparticles and chrysanthemum petal anthocyanins. Chrysanthemum petals exhibited distinct color changes at different pH levels: red at pH 1–4, purplish-red at pH 5–6, blue at pH 7, bluish-green at pH 8, and brown at pH 9–10. Experiments conducted on rainbow trout fillets over six days of refrigerated storage demonstrated that, as spoilage progressed and bacterial growth increased, the color of the packaging changed from white to blue. This visual response enables rapid and accurate assessment of food freshness by consumers.

According to Dr. Shahbazi, this technology has the potential to replace costly and time-consuming laboratory methods in the future and can be applied as smart indicators in the packaging of perishable protein-rich foods such as red meat, poultry, and seafood. The developed aerogels are fully biodegradable, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly, and are produced using inexpensive and naturally derived materials. These characteristics make the technology highly promising for applications in intelligent food packaging and food safety monitoring.

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