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Abstract:The interest for the development of new active packaging materials has rapidly increased in the last few years. Antimicrobial active packaging is a potential alternative to protect perishable products during their preparation, storage and distribution to increase their shelf-life by reducing bacterial and fungal growth. This review underlines the most recent trends in the use of new edible coatings enriched with antimicrobial agents to reduce the growth of different microorganisms, such as Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, molds and yeasts. The application of edible biopolymers directly extracted from biomass (proteins, lipids and polysaccharides) or their combinations, by themselves or enriched with natural extracts, essential oils, bacteriocins, metals or enzyme systems, such as lactoperoxidase, have shown interesting properties to reduce the contamination and decomposition of perishable food products, mainly fish, meat, fruits and vegetables. These formulations can be also applied to food products to control gas exchange, moisture permeation and oxidation processes.

Regardless of the considerable progress in properties and versatility of synthetic polymers, their low biodegradability and lack of environmentally-friendly character remains a critical issue. Pectin is a natural-based polysaccharide contained in the cell walls of many plants allowing their growth and cell extension. This biopolymer can be extracted from plants and isolated as a bioplastic material with different applications, including food packaging. This review aims to present the latest research results regarding pectin, including the structure, different types, natural sources and potential use in several sectors, particularly in food packaging materials. Many researchers are currently working on a multitude of food and beverage industry applications related to pectin as well as combinations with other biopolymers to improve some key properties, such as antioxidant/antimicrobial performance and flexibility to obtain films. All these advances are covered in this review.

This review discusses the latest advances in the composition of gelatin-based edible films and coatings, including nanoparticle addition, and their properties are reviewed along their potential for application in the food packaging industry. Gelatin is an important biopolymer derived from collagen and is extensively used by various industries because of its technological and functional properties. Nowadays, a very wide range of components are available to be included as additives to improve its properties, as well as its applications and future potential. Antimicrobials, antioxidants and other agents are detailed due to the fact that an increasing awareness among consumers regarding healthy lifestyle has promoted research into novel techniques and additives to prolong the shelf life of food products. Thanks to its ability to improve global food quality, gelatin has been particularly considered in food preservation of meat and fish products, among others.

Please cite this article as: Ramos, M., Jiménez, A., Peltzer, M., Garrigós, M.C., Development of novel nanobiocomposite antioxidant films based on poly (lactic acid) and thymol for active packaging, Food Chemistry (2014), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem. 2014.04.026 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

On the use of tris(nonylphenyl) phosphite as a chain extender in melt-blended poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate)/ clay nanocomposites: Morphology, thermal stability, and mechanical properties J. González-Ausejo, E. Sánchez-Safont, J. Gámez-Pérez and L. Cabedo, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, DOI: 10.1002 Characterization of polyhydroxyalkanoate blends incorporating unpurified biosustainably produced poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) A. Martínez-Abad, L. Cabedo, C. S. S. Oliveira, L. Hilliou, M. Reis and J. M. Lagarón, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, DOI: 10.1002 Modification of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) ABSTRACT: Active edible films represent one of the current and future trends in the development of new polymers for selected applications, particularly food packaging. Some biopolymers show excellent performance as carriers for active compounds extracted from natural sources and are able to be released at a controlled rate to packaged food. In this review we aim to present, in a comprehensive way, the most recent advances and updates in this subject, where much research is currently ongoing and new studies are reported very often. This review focuses on innovative biopolymer matrices, their processing to obtain edible active films, and present and future applications.

The main directions in food packaging research are targeted toward improvements in food quality and food safety. For this purpose, food packaging providing longer product shelf-life, as well as the monitoring of safety and quality based upon international standards, is desirable. New active packaging strategies represent a key area of development in new multifunctional materials where the use of natural additives and/or agricultural wastes is getting increasing interest. The development of new materials, and particularly innovative biopolymer formulations, can help to address these requirements and also with other packaging functions such as: food protection and preservation, marketing and smart communication to consumers. The use of biocomposites for active food packaging is one of the most studied approaches in the last years on materials in contact with food. Applications of these innovative biocomposites could help to provide new food packaging materials with improved mechanical, barrier, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. From the food industry standpoint, concerns such as the safety and risk associated with these new additives, migration properties and possible human ingestion and regulations need to be considered. The latest innovations in the use of these innovative formulations to obtain biocomposites are reported in this review. Legislative issues related to the use of natural additives and agricultural wastes in food packaging systems are also discussed.

13The migration of antioxidant (AO) agents, carvacrol and thymol, from polypropylene (PP) 14 packaging films containing the studied compounds at 80 g/kg separately and an equimolar 15 mixture of them into food simulants was investigated. Fast and reliable analytical procedures 16 were developed and validated for the analysis of the studied AOs in food simulants. For 17 aqueous food simulants, solid phase extraction followed by GC-MS analysis was performed. extending the shelf-life of food products.