Abstract:An edible film for tilapia packaging was prepared by blending a mixture of natural preservatives (20% ginger juice, 20% garlic juice, 0.6 g/100 mL protamine, and 1.2 g/100 mL chitosan) with sodium alginate, pullulan and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The effects of components of the film on its properties such as water vapor permeability (WVP), tensile strength (TS) and elongation at break (EAB) were investigated by single factor experiments and further optimization of the formulation was carried out using response surface methodology. It turned out that the optimal formulation consisted of sodium alginate 1.50 g/100 mL, pullulan 0.40 g/100 mL, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose 0.10 g/100 mL, and preservative mixture 0.80 g/100 mL. The WVP, TS and EAB of the optimized formulation were 1.978 5 × 10–12 (g·m)/(m2·s·Pa), 55.004 MPa and 3.14%, respectively, indicating that its performance was desirable. The application of the as-prepared film could extend the shelf life of tilapia from 9 to 18 days under aerobic cold storage at 4 ℃.