Fossil‐based plastic materials are an integral part of modern life. In food packaging, plastics have a highly important function in preserving food quality and safety, ensuring adequate shelf life, ...and thereby contributing to limiting food waste. Meanwhile, the global stream of plastics into the oceans is increasing exponentially, triggering worldwide concerns for the environment. There is an urgent need to reduce the environmental impacts of packaging waste, a matter raising increasing consumer awareness. Shifting part of the focus toward packaging materials from renewable resources is one promising strategy. This review provides an overview of the status and future of biobased and biodegradable films used for food packaging applications, highlighting the effects on food shelf life and quality. Potentials, limitations, and promising modifications of selected synthetic biopolymers; polylactic acid, polybutylene succinate, and polyhydroxyalkanoate; and natural biopolymers such as cellulose, starch, chitosan, alginate, gelatine, whey, and soy protein are discussed. Further, this review provides insight into the connection between biobased packaging materials and innovative technologies such as high pressure, cold plasma, microwave, ultrasound, and ultraviolet light. The potential for utilizing such technologies to improve biomaterial barrier and mechanical properties as well as to aid in improving overall shelf life for the packaging system by in‐pack processing is elaborated on.
Active Packaging Applications for Food Yildirim, Selçuk; Röcker, Bettina; Pettersen, Marit Kvalvåg ...
Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety,
January 2018, 2018-Jan, 2018-01-00, 20180101, Letnik:
17, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The traditional role of food packaging is continuing to evolve in response to changing market needs. Current drivers such as consumer's demand for safer, “healthier,” and higher‐quality foods, ...ideally with a long shelf‐life; the demand for convenient and transparent packaging, and the preference for more sustainable packaging materials, have led to the development of new packaging technologies, such as active packaging (AP). As defined in the European regulation (EC) No 450/2009, AP systems are designed to “deliberately incorporate components that would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food or the environment surrounding the food.” Active packaging materials are thereby “intended to extend the shelf‐life or to maintain or improve the condition of packaged food.” Although extensive research on AP technologies is being undertaken, many of these technologies have not yet been implemented successfully in commercial food packaging systems. Broad communication of their benefits in food product applications will facilitate the successful development and market introduction. In this review, an overview of AP technologies, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant or carbon dioxide‐releasing systems, and systems absorbing oxygen, moisture or ethylene, is provided, and, in particular, scientific publications illustrating the benefits of such technologies for specific food products are reviewed. Furthermore, the challenges in applying such AP technologies to food systems and the anticipated direction of future developments are discussed. This review will provide food and packaging scientists with a thorough understanding of the benefits of AP technologies when applied to specific foods and hence can assist in accelerating commercial adoption.
There is a strong drive in industry for packaging solutions that contribute to sustainable development by targeting a circular economy, which pivots around the recyclability of the packaging ...materials. The aim is to reduce traditional plastic consumption and achieve high recycling efficiency while maintaining the desired barrier and mechanical properties. In this domain, packaging materials in the form of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) can offer the desired functionalities and can be a potential replacement for complex multilayered polymer structures. There has been an increasing interest in nanocomposites for food packaging applications, with a five-fold rise in the number of published articles during the period 2010-2019. The barrier, mechanical, and thermal properties of the polymers can be significantly improved by incorporating low concentrations of nanofillers. Furthermore, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties can be introduced, which are very relevant for food packaging applications. In this review, we will present an overview of the nanocomposite materials for food packaging applications. We will briefly discuss different nanofillers, methods to incorporate them in the polymer matrix, and surface treatments, with a special focus on the barrier, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties. On the practical side migration issues, consumer acceptability, recyclability, and toxicity aspects will also be discussed.
Chitosan is a unique biopolymer in the respect that it is abundant, cationic, low-toxic, non-immunogenic and biodegradable. The relative occurrence of the two monomeric building units ...(N-acetyl-glucosamine and d-glucosamine) is crucial to whether chitosan is predominantly an ampholyte or predominantly a polyelectrolyte at acidic pH-values. The chemical composition is not only crucial to its surface activity properties, but also to whether and why chitosan can undergo a sol-gel transition. This review gives an overview of chitosan hydrogels and their biomedical applications, e.g., in tissue engineering and drug delivery, as well as the chitosan's surface activity and its role in emulsion formation, stabilization and destabilization. Previously unpublished original data where chitosan acts as an emulsifier and flocculant are presented and discussed, showing that highly-acetylated chitosans can act both as an emulsifier and as a flocculant.
Increased insight into the interactions occurring between emulsion droplets is important to a range of applications from the food and pharmaceutical industries to oil recovery and mineral flotation. ...These interactions are often modified by the adsorption at the oil–water interface of surface-active species such as small molecule surfactants, proteins or polymers, in order to meet functional requirements of the emulsions. However, the experimental challenges faced when attempting to study these forces acting between emulsion droplets have hampered the progress in the understanding of the fundamental forces and to which extent these forces influence the destabilizing processes. In this paper we describe emulsion droplet studies by applying optical tweezers. By capturing two emulsion droplets in separate optical traps and bringing them into proximity, the forces acting between them can be measured as a function of separation distance. In this proof-of-concept study the force
versus
distance curves of emulsion droplets of different stabilization was obtained. Focus has been placed on the relative differences between micro- and macromolecular stabilization of emulsion droplets. Effects on depletion interaction, relaxation behaviour of the interfacial polymer layer during compression of the droplets and electrostatic screening have been observed. The present article documents the suitability of optical tweezers in studies aiming at revealing the forces acting between individual emulsion droplets as well as limiting factors of the technology.
Visible liquid inside food packages is perceived as unattractive to consumers, and may result in food waste—a significant factor that can compromise sustainability in food value chains. However, an ...absorber with overdimensioned capacity may cause alterations in texture and a dryer product, which in turn may affect consumers’ satisfaction and repurchase. In this study we compared the effect of a number of liquid absorbent pads in combination with headspace gas composition (60% CO2/40% N2 and 75% O2/25% CO2) and gas-to-product volume ratio (g/p) on drip loss and quality of fresh chicken breast fillets. A significant increase in drip loss with an increasing number of liquid absorbent pads was documented. The increase was more pronounced in 60% CO2/40% N2 compared to 75% O2/25% CO2. By comparing packaging variants with a different number of liquid absorbent pads, a higher drip loss for all tested was found at g/p 1.8 compared to g/p 2.9. Total viable counts (TVC) were independent of whether there was free liquid in contact with the product, and TVC was independent of gas composition. Differentiation between the gas compositions was seen for specific bacterial analyses. While significant changes were observed using texture analysis, sensory evaluation of the chicken breast fillets did not show any negative effect in texture related attributes. This study demonstrates the importance of optimized control of meat drip loss, as product-adjusted liquid absorption may affect economy, food quality, and consumer satisfaction, as well as food waste.
The current paper focuses on the preparation and some characteristics of viscoelastic hydrogels, ViscoGels(TM), made from chitosans having a random acylation pattern. Three different chitosan batches ...with a high fraction of acetylation were selected based on their Mw, and the impact of degree of cross-linking on these chitosan samples has been studied with respect to the properties of the final hydrogels. Rheological long term (12 month) stability and gelling kinetics data are presented together with results from swelling studies at different pH. Finally, an example illustrating these gels potential as drug delivery vehicles is presented and discussed.
The ever-growing world population results in the ineluctable increase of food demand which translates in the augment of the global market of packaging materials. Hence, the concept of active ...packaging materializes as a technology to enhance the safety, quality and shelf-life of the packaged foods. Active packaging systems can contribute to the reduction of food waste by providing, apart from an inert barrier to external conditions, several functions associated with food preservation, namely absorbing/scavenging, releasing/emitting and removing properties, temperature, microbial and quality control.
The purpose of this review is to present a concise (but wide-ranging) appraisal on the latest advances in active agents for active food packaging. Emphasis is placed on active functions such as antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, oxygen and ethylene scavenging, and carbon dioxide emitting. An effort was made to highlight representative articles that prompted research on active agents towards viable market solutions.
Active packaging is a thriving field given its duality as barrier to external detrimental factors and active role in food preservation and quality. The use of natural active agents is a flourishing field due to the general concern towards natural-based additives. Nevertheless, research is still in its early stages with a long way to go in the design of innovative and economical active packaging materials containing appropriate active agents. The interaction between packaging, environment and food is the key challenge for achieving commercial translation.
•Active agents improve shelf-life, safety and quality of packaged foods.•Antimicrobial agents and O2 scavengers are by far the most commercialized agents.•Antioxidant agents improve the stability of oxidation-sensitive foodstuffs.•Antimicrobial agents and CO2 emitters reduce the growth of microorganisms.•Ethylene scavengers delay the ripening and senescence of fruits and vegetables.
Highlights ► We have characterized a novel chitosan adjuvant. ► We have investigated the immune responses in mice. ► Neutrophils rapidly infiltrate the adjuvant. ► The humoral and cellular responses ...are enhanced.
A series of propylene glycol alginates (PGA) with degrees of esterification (D.E.) in the range of 32–93% were investigated with respect to surface activity and gelling potential. The surface tension ...measurements revealed increasing surface activity with increasing contents of propylene glycol groups. The rheological characterization of the PGA series calcium gels uncovered that the gelling potential of the PGAs was surprisingly well conserved even at intermediate degrees of esterification, assumed to reflect heterogeneity in the esterification pattern. For the PGAs of highest degree of esterification the assumed electrostatic point associations combined with hydrogen bonding lead to the rapid formation of weak gels. The rheological properties of high D.E. PGA solutions could be easily modified through the addition of sodium chloride and urea. Self-supporting, heterogeneous and stable PGA and PGA/unmodified alginate gelled foams were prepared applying the internal setting method and characterized with respect to mechanical properties and density. Increasing foamability and corresponding decrease in densities of the gelled foams and their mechanical strength was observed with increasing D.E..
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•Self-supporting gelled foam were prepared of propylene glycol alginates (PGA).•Increase in surface activity with increasing propylene glycol content.•Decrease in storage modulus of PGA gels with increasing degree of esterification.•Weak gels formed even for high degree of esterification PGAs.•Viscosity of high D.E. PGA solutions was easily modified with NaCl and urea.
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