8. Shelf-life extension of cheese using edible packaging materials

Abstract

Packaging is one of the most relevant areas in food industry, where a great investment from the scientific community and industry has been applied. The search for safe materials and healthier compounds that present simultaneous biodegradability and edibility have been main goals of research on packaging and of the packaging industry itself. Recent studies lead to believe that the future generation of packaging materials will be derived from renewable and biodegradable sources. Edible coatings and edible films, made from edible materials (such as polysaccharides, proteins and lipids) are a good example of such packaging materials. They can be used to provide additional protection for food, being a fully biodegradable and environmental friendly packaging system and can be combined with antimicrobial, antifungal and antioxidant substances. They have been extensively applied in fruits and vegetables, however hardly explored in dairy products. Nevertheless, in the last years an increasing attention was given to the utilization of edible packaging on cheese preservation, being a potentially improved means of controlling ripening, quality, safety and at the same time providing nutritional value. This chapter provides a review of the last developments concerning the application of edible packaging to cheese preservation.