Edible Films and Coatings as Food-Quality Preservers: An Overview

Abstract

Food preservation technologies are currently facing important challenges at extending the shelf-life of perishable food products (e.g., meat, fish, milk, eggs, and many raw fruits and vegetables) that help to meet the daily nutrient requirement demand. In addition, food preservation has gone beyond only preservation; the current techniques are focused on the fulfillment of two additional objectives, the suitability of the used processes and generation of environmentally friendly products with non-presence of any side effect on health. Moreover, they are also looking for additional nutritional properties. One of these preservation protocols deals with the use of edible films and coatings. Therefore, this review shows an overview of synthetic materials (e.g., glass, aluminum, plastic, and paperboard), as well as the regulations that limit their application in food packaging. Further, this review releases the current-state-of-the-art of the use of films and edible coatings as an alternative to conventional packaging, providing the main features that these biodegradable packaging should meet towards specific uses for the conservation and improvement of various food products. Herein, particular attention has been paid to the main used components (e.g., biopolymers, additives, bioactive, and probiotic components), manufacturing methods (for edible films or coatings) and their application to specific products. In addition, an outlook of the application of edible films and coatings as quality indicators of perishable products is shown.

Development and Characterization of Bioactive Poly(butylene-succinate) Films Modified with Quercetin for Food Packaging Applications

“…The packaging is likely the most important method for food preservation due to the fact that it protects, preserves and provides the needed information about the product while allowing product commercialization and distribution [ 1 , 2 ]. Nowadays, the food packaging industry strongly depends on the petrochemical non-biodegradable polymers.…”

“…Their main advantages are wide applications, convenience, low prices and durability [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. However, they have some disadvantages, such as association with other packaging materials and non-biodegradability, which makes them difficult to manage [ 2 ]. Based on available data, the annual plastics production exceeds 400 million tons, and around 40% is used for packaging purposes [ 7 ].…”

“…Hence, both the recycling and biodegradability of plastics need serious attention [ 10 , 11 ]. Those issues have triggered extensive investigations to develop biodegradable polymers, especially derived from renewable resources [ 2 , 4 , 8 , 11 ].…”

“…An interest in the mentioned polymers for food packaging applications has increased in the last two decades, posing one of the types of sustainable packaging materials. Together with biodegradable edible films (defined as a thin layer of biomaterial, such as polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, that can be consumed), they are considered optimal for future development in packaging technology, leading to the minimization of environmental pollution and exploitation of the world stock of fossil raw materials [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 12 , 15 , 16 ]. However, it is necessary to emphasize that innovative packaging materials should meet the criteria of laws that regulate the quality control of packaging in terms of their interaction with the food products (packaging–product relationship) [ 2 ].…”

Trends in Chitosan as a Primary Biopolymer for Functional Films and Coatings Manufacture for Food and Natural Products

“…The manufacturing of synthetic packaging requires non-renewable natural resources that take many years to degrade, hence its use has been initiated to be banned [2]. To face the environmental pollution by conventional packaging, the packaging based on natural materials has recently received considerable attention due to the advantages over petroleum-based plastics [1], such as natural origin, no toxicity, recycling, biocompatibility, and biodegradability [3,4]. Biodegradable packaging based on renewable raw materials are indeed a viable alternative for preserving the environment [5].…”