Nanofillers for Food Packaging: Antimicrobial Potential of Metal-based Nanoparticles

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title>Background:</jats:title> <jats:p> Recently, numerous studies on packaging nanomaterials for foods underline the significant function of nanofillers in the manufacturing of innovative nanocomposites based on polymer or biopolymer matrices. It is evident in the literature that nanofillers exhibit effective characteristics such as antimicrobial potential, barrier, mechanical, and thermal properties. However, the exact mechanisms regulating the occurrence of the antimicrobial activity of nanofillers are only hypothesized, the literature containing controversies on the mechanisms of nanofiller-induced toxicity.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objective and approach:</jats:title> <jats:p>The objective of this review is to highlight several types of nanofillers, especially inorganic nanofillers that can be used along different polymers or biopolymers to form innovative food packaging materials. The antimicrobial potential of metal-based nanofillers is also discussed in the second part of the review.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Key findings and conclusions:</jats:title> <jats:p> Even though numerous reports on polymer or biopolymer nanomaterial applications in food packaging are available, their purpose is not aimed at in this article, and a smaller number of reviews approaches food packaging nanomaterials in this way. It is expected that the information contained in this paper will complement previous reports, and open new vistas for explorers to apply nanofillers in the functional food packaging area.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Metal Oxide Nanoparticles in Food Packaging and Their Influence on Human Health

“…Excellent antibacterial (against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria), antifungal, and antiviral agent; good reinforcing NPs of polymer/biopolymer matrix EMo-NPs are effective in enhancing food packaging properties and are excellent antimicrobials owing to their capacity to generate high levels of intracellular ROS (reactive oxygen species) through metal ion release [9,49]. EMo-NPs do not migrate from food/beverage packaging into the food matrix as they are completely encapsulated by the host polymer/biopolymer [16,45,50].…”

“…However, in some circumstances, nanostructures (polymer/biopolymer-based matrix) are able to release EMo-NPs into food/beverages, depending on certain factors (food storage conditions, food chemical nature, food processing, etc.) [9,16,45,50]. Once released into the food/beverage matrix, EMo-NPs pass through the human GI (gastrointestinal) tract, cross the GI mucosa and enter human cells, where they display various behaviors.…”

“…We are living in the nanobiotechnology era [1,2]. This newly emerging technology has an enormous potential in various multidimensional fields of modern day life, such as health sciences and engineering (medicine, pharma, sport, agri-food, and other industries) [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Nanomedicine refers particularly to biosensors, imaging, diagnosis, or drug delivery for therapy, while in sport, nanomaterials (a new class of engineering materials) offer smarter products, such as functional nanosportswear, self-cleaning and antibacterial sportswear and shoes, gadgets, therapeutic bands, rackets, etc.…”

“…or are directly added into the food matrix to create new food functionalities (coloring, flavoring, safety/stability agents, etc.) [1,4,6,9,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Various NPs are used, including nanocellulose, nanoclays, Ag-NPs (nanosilver), Au-NPs (nanogold), nanoforms of some metal oxides (CuO-NPs: copper oxide NPs; Fe 3 O 4 -NPs: triiron tetraoxide NPs; MgO-NPs: magnesium oxide NPs; TiO 2 -NPs: titanium dioxide NPs; ZnO-NPs: 2 of 18 zinc oxide NPs), food-grade biopolymers, nanoliposomes, etc.…”

“…Various NPs are used, including nanocellulose, nanoclays, Ag-NPs (nanosilver), Au-NPs (nanogold), nanoforms of some metal oxides (CuO-NPs: copper oxide NPs; Fe 3 O 4 -NPs: triiron tetraoxide NPs; MgO-NPs: magnesium oxide NPs; TiO 2 -NPs: titanium dioxide NPs; ZnO-NPs: 2 of 18 zinc oxide NPs), food-grade biopolymers, nanoliposomes, etc. These nanoparticles display unique properties, such as surface effects (larger surface areas, larger surface-to-volume ratios) and pronounced quantum effects due to their nanoscale dimensions (range 1-100 nm), which are directly reflected in their reactivity [1,3,4,6,7,9,15,18,21,22]. The global market size of metal and metal oxide NPs is expected to grow from USD 2.65 billion in 2022 to USD 6.39 billion by 2030, owing to their growing use in various industries (medical sector, pharma, agricultural, food area, and other end-use industries) and increasing awareness of the benefits of using these NPs in different applications [23,24].…”