Enzymatic Time-Temperature Indicator Prototype Developed by Immobilizing Laccase on Electrospun Fibers to Predict Lactic Acid Bacterial Growth in Milk during Storage

Abstract

Laccase was immobilized on a chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol/tetraethylorthosilicate electrospun film (ceCPTL) and colored with guaiacol to obtain a laccase time–temperature indicator (TTI) prototype. The activation energy (Ea) of coloration of the prototype was 50.89–33.62 kJ/mol when 8–25 μg/cm2 laccase was immobilized on ceCPTL, and that of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) growth in milk was 73.32 kJ/mol. The Ea of coloration of the TTI prototype onto which 8–10 μg/cm2 laccase was immobilized was in the required range for predicting LAB growth in milk. The coloration endpoint of the TTI prototype onto which 10 μg/cm2 (0.01 U) laccase was immobilized could respond to the LAB count reaching 106 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL in milk during a static temperature response test, and the prediction error was discovered to be low. In dynamic temperature response experiments with intermittent temperature changes between 4 and 25 °C, the coloration rate of the laccase TTI prototype was consistent with LAB growth. The results of this study indicate that the laccase TTI prototype can be applied as a visual monitoring indicator to assist in evaluating milk quality in cold chains.