Active Food Packaging Evolution: Transformation from Micro- to Nanotechnology

Abstract

Predicting which attributes consumers are willing to pay extra for has become straightforward in recent years. The demands for the prime necessity of food of natural quality, elevated safety, minimally processed, ready-to-eat, and longer shelf-life have turned out to be matters of paramount importance. The increased awareness of environmental conservation and the escalating rate of foodborne illnesses have driven the food industry to implement a more innovative solution, i.e. bioactive packaging. Owing to nanotechnology application in eco-favorable coatings and encapsulation systems, the probabilities of enhancing food quality, safety, stability, and efficiency have been augmented. In this review article, the collective results highlight the food nanotechnology potentials with special focus on its application in active packaging, novel nano- and microencapsulation techniques, regulatory issues, and socio-ethical scepticism between nano-technophiles and nano-technophobes. No one has yet indicated the comparison of data concerning food nano- versus micro-technology; therefore noteworthy results of recent investigations are interpreted in the context of bioactive packaging. The next technological revolution in the domain of food science and nutrition would be the 3-BIOS concept enabling a controlled release of active agents through bioactive, biodegradable, and bionanocomposite combined strategy.

A review of the efficacy and safety of nanoparticle-based oral insulin delivery systems

“…The possibility also exists that such formulations could be used for the delivery of nutrients, additives, and other components in various food matrices (8,22). Examples could include the incorporation of a fat-soluble vitamin into an aqueous beverage or a water-soluble mineral into a fatty food item.…”

Transformation of food packaging from passive to innovative via nanotechnology: concepts and critiques

“…To date, the fundamental science of smart materials investigates self-cleaning, selfhealing also called shape memory polymers (SMPs), selfcooling and self-heating materials, while self-healing and self-cleaning are predominant (Bleay et al 2001;Wu et al 2008Wu et al , 2016. In food industry, smart packaging is interchangeably used with intelligent food packaging and/or active food packaging and features of self-healing, tear and wear of packaging, however, lack their principles and accomplishment models (Chellaram et al 2014;Imran et al 2010;Neethirajan and Jayas 2011;Wu et al 2015b). …”

“…The nanomaterials have unique physical and chemical properties when compared to that of macroscale materials of the same chemical compositions (Duncan 2011). Nanotechnology is described by scientific community as the revolutionary super-cutting-edge field (Chellaram et al 2014;Imran et al 2010;Rashidi and Khosravi-Darani 2011) that intends to revolutionize future manufacturing industry including chemical processing, mechanical industry, electronic technology, sensors technology, and from pharmaceutical industry to agricultural and food supply chain (Bumbudsanpharoke and Ko 2015;Dasgupta et al 2015;Neethirajan and Jayas 2011;Sarapulova et al 2015).…”

“…To date, the research is paving for comprehensive understanding of polymer nanomaterials for enhanced smart packaging, intelligent packaging and active packaging phenomena in more complex forms. The knowledge enables for integrated packages with additives such as antimicrobial agents, nutrients, probiotics (Ziani et al 2012), moisture and oxygen barriers, damage repairing (Imran et al 2010;Neethirajan and Jayas 2011), self-cleaning agents (Youngblood and Sottos 2008) and information provisional devices (Bastarrachea et al 2011;de Azeredo 2009).…”

“…This allows effective food preservation and prolonged shelf life of foods by retarding microbial growth and extending their lag phase leading to improved safety and quality of food products (Biji et al 2015;De Jong et al 2005). Therefore, the practice is significant for preventing the post-processing contamination and spoilage of foods (Bastarrachea et al 2011;Imran et al 2010;Koskela et al 2015;Wen et al 2016).…”