Abstract
Owing to the increasing environmental concerns and requirements for high-quality foods, edible films and coatings (based on proteins, polysaccharides, natural phenolic active substances, etc.) are being developed as effective alternatives to traditional plastic packaging. Gelatin is extracted from collagen. It is an ideal material for food packaging due to its versatile advantages such as low price, polymerization, biodegradability, good antibacterial and antioxidant properties, etc. However, gelatin film exists poor waterproof and mechanical properties, which limit its developments and applications in food packaging. Previous studies show that pure gelatin can be modified by adding active ingredients and incorporating them with bio-polymers to improve its mechanical properties, aiming to achieve the desirable effect of preservation. This review mainly shows the preparation and molding ways of gelatin-based edible films and the applications of gelatin modified with other biopolymers. Furthermore, this review provides the latest advances in gelatin-based biodegradable packaging and food applications that exhibit outstanding advantages in food preservation.
Highlights
The concept of edible films/coatings comes from the environmental pollution issues of dealing with non-biodegradable plastics and the demands of consumers for natural, nutritious and healthy food
A study reported that natural biological macromolecules gelatin, chitosan and CaCO3 integrated into multifunctional nano edible composite film for postharvest fruits preservation
To overcome the major limitations of pure gelatin film, which is soluble in water, researchers usually mix gelatin with the traditional biological polymer and incorporate it with some natural active substances to obtain modified edible composite films and coatings
Summary
The concept of edible films/coatings comes from the environmental pollution issues of dealing with non-biodegradable plastics and the demands of consumers for natural, nutritious and healthy food. Edible films and coatings with enhanced functions have effectively controlled the quality deterioration of fish, meat and derivatives (mainly by inhibiting microbial growth, antioxidant activity and maintaining sensory properties) [2]. Gelatin can be widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, photography and cosmetics industries due to its functional characteristics, including water-binding ability, gel formation ability, water vapor barrier, film forming, foam forming ability and emulsification tendency [4]. Type I collagen is found primarily in connective tissues, such as skin, temperature, extraction time). Animal-derived organs and extraction methods/parameters have a great influence on the molecular weight and amino acid composition of the gelatin obtained, which determines the molecular structures (second, third and fourth structures), physicochemical properties and functional properties of gelatin [14]. Studies showed that chitosan gelatin-based composite films are prepared by the solution casting method [23]. The developed film can be used as smart food packaging as it could provide information about food spoilage indirectly through media pH measurement and extend the shelf-life of food through the material’s antioxidant properties [25]
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