Abstract: 

Carboxymethyl  chitosan  (CMCh)-peptide  conjugates  were  produced  by  grafting CMCh  with  peptides  from  hemp  seed,  maize  and  casein.  The  nanoemulsions stabilized  by  these  conjugates  had  smaller  droplet  size  and  better  emulsifying 

properties. Nanoemulsions stabilized by conjugates were used to develop active films containing  Camellia  essential  oil  and  the  effect  of  conjugation  on  physicochemical  properties of resulting films was evaluated. Water vapor and oxygen barrier properties, tensile strength, flexibility, and temperature of endothermic peak increased 6.6-19.8% and  6.9-27.2%,  40.1-96.6%,  61.4-83.3%  and  7.8-18.5%,  respectively  when  the CMCh-peptide  conjugates  were  used  to  emulsify  the  essential  oil.  The  conjugation helped to form compact structure. All of the films containing essential oil emulsions stabilized  by  conjugates  showed  the  ability  to  extend  the  shelf-life  of  blueberry  by maintaining the firmness, reducing the weight loss and slowing down the formation of soluble solids.