Innovative routes to develop multi-functional sustainable active films for food packaging

Abstract

Active packaging solutions are among the latest and the most attractive innovations in the food packaging field: this technology plays a dynamic role in food preservation, directly interacting with the food and/or the surrounding packaging atmosphere, by releasing protective substances or absorbing others that accelerate the decay. Among all, oxygen scavengers, antioxidants and antimicrobials are the most interesting and promising active systems, since they deeply affect the quality preservation and the extension of the shelf-life of foodstuff. Oxygen scavengers and antioxidants interfere with oxidation mechanisms responsible of qualitative decay of many sensitive foods, while antimicrobials are able to kill or inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms that may contaminate packaged food products The main challenges in developing active films for food packaging involve the realization of effective systems, with satisfactory functional properties, easy-to-produce by conventional technologies and, last but not least, with high eco-compatibility. Indeed, the recent concerns toward waste-management issues and shortage of resources, have increasingly shifted the research focus towards the development of highly eco-compatible and sustainable packaging solutions, by means of biomass-derived biodegradable or completely recyclable polymers, or a combination of both. At the same time, the selection of the proper active agent, as well as the choice of the optimal packaging layout, is an important and not an easy task in the design and application of active packaging. In particular, the premature exhaustion of the oxygen scavenging films, due to the reduced thicknesses involved, must be avoided, while for antimicrobial and antioxidant structures a tunable release must be achieved. In order to face these requests, the appropriate design and sizing of the active packaging is essential, by tailoring the performances of the package to the shelf-life requirements of the specific food products. These considerations inspired the scope of this PhD work, which aimed at investigating innovative routes for the development of sustainable, multi-functional active packaging films, to be successfully applied to extend the shelf-life of sensitive foods.... [edited by Author]