The basic nutrient of all living beings in the developmental age is milk. Milk contains many things necessary for ideal nutrition. One of the enzymes found in bovine milk is lactoperoxidase (LPO; EC 1.11.1.7). The LPO system functions as a natural defense system, especially in newborn babies. Despite the many benefits of milk, contamination of breast milk with environmental toxins is common. Over time, people accumulate a lifetime load of chemicals from drugs to environmental pollutants, and these can be passed on to the baby during breastfeeding. Anthraquinones are colorful compounds that can be produced both naturally and synthetically. These compounds are widely used in industry and medicine due to their biological activities and colorful structures. In this study, in vitro enzyme inhibition study, molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation parameters were examined to investigate the inhibitory potential of anthraquinone derivatives, which are widely used as coloring agents, against the lactoperoxidase enzyme. The inhibitors showed competitive inhibition with Ki values between 0.4964 ± 0.042–2.0907 ± 0.1044 µM. 1,2-Dihydroxy-anthraquinone was predicted to have the highest affinity on the LPO receptor, with estimated free binding energies of -7.11 kcal/mol. The stability of both ligand and protein, as shown by the low RMSD and RMSF values, shows that 1,2-dihydroxy-anthraquinone (2) maintains strong and stable interactions throughout the MD simulation, further supporting the high binding affinity and potential biological activity of the compound. We hope that this study will guide the development of drugs targeting the LPO enzyme with anthraquinone derivatives.

Biopolymer-based films are increasingly viewed as viable substitutes for petroleum-based materials. In this study, high acyl gellan gum (HAGG) films were developed by incorporating palm kernel oil nanoemulsions (PKON) to address the intrinsic limitations of gellan gum, such as its weak water barrier properties, which hinder broader applications. PKON at varying concentrations (0.075 w/v%, 0.1 w/v%, 0.125 w/v%, and 0.15 w/v%) were employed to assess their influence on the physical, structural, thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of gellan gum films. A four-week storage study was conducted under room conditions (22.0 ± 2.0 °C, 63 ± 3% RH) to evaluate changes in the films’ physical, barrier, and mechanical performance over time. The results demonstrate that incorporating PKON enhanced the smoothness of the film surface and modified the microstructure, as confirmed by SEM and FTIR analyses. A higher PKON concentration (0.15 w/v%) improved film mechanical strength and barrier properties against water and oxygen. The films maintained consistent barrier properties against oxygen and water vapor throughout storage, particularly at higher PKON concentrations. This study highlighted the viability of HAGG-PKON films as environmentally friendly packaging materials with improved functional properties.

Silver gelled chitosan (CS-Ag) films with improved mechanical traits were prepared via a simple technique, which comprised freezing the CS solution, and then pouring the AgNO3 solution onto it. This resulted in the creation of uniform and mechanically stable CS-Ag films due to the slow diffusion of AgNO3 into the frozen solid CS. The films were characterized via scan electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). Their antimicrobial and mechanical traits were inspected. The tensile strength (TS) of the 1.5% (w/w) AgNO3 processed CS-Ag films reached 22.42 ± 0.89 MPa and its elongation at break was 33.01 ± 2.67%. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of this film was also inspected and it was 167.77 g/m2day. This value was reduced to 146.95 and 120.68 g/m2day, after the inclusion of sunflower seed oil (SFO) within the CS-Ag films at 5% and 8% (w/w), respectively, and this reflected the increased water resistance of the SFO-CS-Ag films. The inclusion of SFO at concentration ≥ 5% (w/w) also increased the films antimicrobial traits when Aspergillus and Rhizopus species were inspected. On the other hand, the TS of the SFO-CS-Ag films was reduced to 15.13 ± 1.61 MPa and 10.17 ± 0.77 MPa for the 5% and 8% SFO, respectively. Nonetheless, these values were still within 8.3–31.4 MPa TS range of the frequently utilized packaging material; low-density polyethylene. Thus, the 5% and 8% (w/w) SFO-CS-Ag films were utilized to package white bread. The 8% (w/w) SFO-CS-Ag film efficiently preserved bread as no fungal growth observed for 10 storage days.