Pectin based composite polymer nanofabrics incorporated with rectorite (REC) were fabricated via electrospinning. Continuous and uniform nanofibers were obtained by electrospinning poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-Pectin (80/20) composite solution. REC was successfully introduced to the polymer composite nanofabrics, which was confirmed by Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectra. Small angel X-ray diffraction demonstrated the REC in PVA-Pectin-REC composite nanofabrics was neither of an intercalated type nor of a completely exfoliated type. And organic-inorganic composite nanofabrics with enhanced thermal stability and cell viability were obtained, which was demonstrated by thermo-gravimetric analysis and cell cytotoxic evaluation results, respectively. High content of REC (>= 1%) in composite nanofabrics could obviously reduce the cytotoxicity and improve the cell viability of the composite nanofabrics. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.