Na/N doped carbon dot nanozymes with enhanced peroxidase activity for antimicrobial food preservation

Dangfeng Wang; Yifan Hou; Likun Ren; Yang Jiang; Yuqiong Meng; Rui Ma; Shulin Wang; Zhiteng Liu; Xuepeng Li; Fangchao Cui; Tingting Li; Jianrong Li

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.145191

Na/N doped carbon dot nanozymes with enhanced peroxidase activity for antimicrobial food preservation

Food Chem. 2025 Jun 25:491:145191. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.145191. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Dangfeng Wang¹, Yifan Hou¹, Likun Ren¹, Yang Jiang², Yuqiong Meng³, Rui Ma³, Shulin Wang⁴, Zhiteng Liu⁵, Xuepeng Li¹, Fangchao Cui⁶, Tingting Li⁷, Jianrong Li¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science and Technology, Bohai University; National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, China Light Industry Key Laboratory of Marine Fish Processing, Jinzhou, Liaoning 121013, China.
² School of Public Health, Dali University, Dali 671000, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China.
⁴ College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai 810016, China.
⁵ Dalian Food Co., Ltd., Jinzhou, Liaoning 121209, China.
⁶ College of Food Science and Technology, Bohai University; National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, China Light Industry Key Laboratory of Marine Fish Processing, Jinzhou, Liaoning 121013, China. Electronic address: cfc1031@163.com.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Bioresources Utilization (Dalian Minzu University), Ministry of Education, Dalian, Liaoning 116029, China.

PMID: 40580597
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.145191

Abstract

Annually, up to 25 % of food globally spoils due to microbial pollution. Traditional antibacterial nanomaterials had issues like high dosage, lacked of catalytic activity, and instability. Therefore, Na/N-doping carbon dots nanozymes (Na/N-CDs nanozymes) was developed to fight spoilage organisms. The structural stability of Na/N-CDs nanozymes was enhanced due to the change of lattice structure. Na/N-doping with the peroxidase-mimetic activity was 4.3 times higher than reported HRP activity. It showed strong antimicrobial activity by catalyzing H₂O₂ into ROS, with a MIC of 0.03 mg·mL^-1. And the catalytic activity was over 32 times higher than precursor substances. In contrast, Fe and Cu-doping CDs with a MIC of 0.5 mg·mL^-1 had no nanozyme activity. The results of antibacterial and spoilage assays showed that Na/N-CDs nanozymes antibacteria by damaging cell membranes, degrading DNA, and inhibiting key enzymes, thereby extending the shelf life of salmon fillets by 3 days, indicating potential in aquatic product preservation.

Keywords: Antibacterial; Carbon dot; Food preservation; Nanozyme; Peroxidase.