Packaging of Fresh Poultry Meat with Innovative and Sustainable ZnO/Pectin Bionanocomposite Films—A Contribution to the Bio and Circular Economy

Abstract

The development of innovative/sustainable materials capable of enlarging the shelf-life of food products has lately been a focus of research, aiming to reduce food waste. Due to their good antimicrobial properties, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) can add activity to food packaging, improving its performance. Furthermore, these nanoparticles are considered GRAS by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which represents an advantage in their application. Through an innovative and sustainable approach using tomato and passionfruit extracts, ZnO NPs were produced and incorporated into pectin films. The resulting bionanocomposites were tested for their activity via in situ studies, using fresh poultry meat as a food matrix. Overall, the bionanocomposites presented good antimicrobial activity, with the intrinsic antimicrobial properties of pectin having shown to be enhanced by the incorporated ZnO NPs. When used as primary packaging for the meat, the deterioration rate of the poultry meat, measured through microbiological growth and total volatile basic nitrogen content, was reduced. However, the nanoparticles contributed to the increment of discoloration and meat oxidation processes. Nonetheless, it can be concluded that fresh poultry meat protected with the bionanocomposites presented an extension of its shelf-life time, and it was confirmed that this eco-friendly packaging has potential to be employed by the food industry.

Polyvinyl alcohol‐based fiber membranes with high strength and ultraviolet shielding properties for enhancing the shelf life of grapes

“…7 Among the PVAreinforced fillers, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) and ZnO are noteworthy due to their classification as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) materials by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, [8][9][10] approval for use in human food and food contact materials, low cost, and superior UV absorption properties. 11,12 With the development of nanotechnology, nanoparticles (NPs) have been found to possess larger specific surface areas compared with traditional particles, and can directly achieve the effect of UV shielding through the scattering effect on the surface of the particles or absorbing UV rays. These features indicate the potential application of NPs in food packaging.…”