Smart Food Packaging Designed by Nanotechnological and Drug Delivery Approaches

Abstract

This paper offers a general view of the solutions that are able to confer bioactivity to the packaging materials, especially antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. These properties can be induced by the nature of the polymers blend or due to the addition of ternary components from natural agents (essential oils or other extracts) to synthetic organic and inorganic agents, including nanoparticles with a broad antimicrobial activity such as metals (e.g., Ag, Au, Cu) or metal oxide (e.g., TiO2, ZnO) nanoparticles, and even bacterial cells such as probiotics. Many times, these components are synergistically used, each of them assuring a specific role or potentiating the role of the other components. The antimicrobial activity can be induced due to the applied coatings or due to the whole bulk material. Along with an increasing food stability which means a longer shelf-life some smart packaging can be exploited in order to highlight the freshness of the food. These act as a sensor (usually pH sensitive but also other mechanisms can be exploited such as aggregation/agglomeration of AuNPs leading to color change or even aldehyde-specific reactions such as the Cannizzaro reaction), and thus, consumers can be confident about the freshness of the food, especially perishable food such as seafood or fish.

Biodegradable Alginate Films with ZnO Nanoparticles and Citronella Essential Oil—A Novel Antimicrobial Structure

“…The need of bacterial cultures to produce the cheese varieties creates an infection hazard with cheese-borne species like Escherichia coli , Salmonella enterica or Staphylococcus aureus [ 1 ]. At present, the majority of food packaging used in industry is based on petrochemical polymers or cellulose due to low-cost and good mechanical and barrier performances [ 2 ]. Environmental concerns are building up pressure in favor of biodegradable packaging, from renewable sources like cellulose-based materials [ 3 ].…”

Antibacterial Biodegradable Films Based on Alginate with Silver Nanoparticles and Lemongrass Essential Oil–Innovative Packaging for Cheese

“…The majority of food packaging materials used at present are based on petrochemical products or cellulose, due to historical factors such as low cost or mechanical and barrier properties [1,2]. The pressure of environmental concerns will phase out the petroleumbased materials, which will increase the need for innovative, biodegradable polymeric packaging materials such as chitosan [3], alginate [4], cellulose [5], starch [6], pullulan [7], polylactic acid [8], etc.…”

Bio-Based Packaging Materials Containing Substances Derived from Coffee and Tea Plants

“…Unlike active packaging, the intelligent one can detect the conditions in a package and inform the users about them [ 30 ]. In such smart systems, examples of different sensors and indicators can be presented, including biosensors [ 31 ], gas sensors [ 27 ], chemical sensors [ 32 ], electronic nose [ 33 ], freshness indicators [ 34 ], time temperature indicators [ 35 ], integrity indicators, and radiofrequency identification [ 29 ]. The presented systems are not only helpful for keeping products fresh but also are attractive for potential consumers, who are usually interested in innovative solutions.…”