Innovative Food Packaging Research Articles

Aiding the Design of Innovative and Sustainable Food Packaging: Integrating Techno-Environmental and Circular Economy Criteria

Reducing food waste and increasing resource efficiency have become worldwide targets as highlighted by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 – Responsible consumption and production. Food packaging, in particular plastics-based, is a key component of food-related waste: packaging increases the amount of total waste, but also reduces potential food waste by protecting food products and prolonging their shelf life. Therefore, it is important that packaging is designed as to satisfy both technical and environmental criteria. Hence, this paper seeks to develop a decision-support framework and key metrics to aid development and selection of new innovative food packaging within a circular economy context. A set of indicators is proposed, integrating techno-environmental and circular economy criteria to help designers as well as food and packaging manufacturers develop more sustainable products. The methodology is illustrated through a prototype new plastic packaging developed as part of this project, considering its use for two types of product – raspberries and meat – as illustrative examples.

Socio-Economic Requirements as a Fundament of Innovation in Food Packaging

The food packaging industry trends reflect the identified needs and requirements of consumers because entrepreneurs should satisfy changing consumer requirements to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage due to innovation. In the group of socio-economic needs, the most important ones are lifestyle changes, improving the quality of life through the added value offered to consumers through packaged products, profitable companies in the sector, packaged product safety and environmental protection. The main aim of the study was exploring the validity of food packaging requirements concerning the satisfaction of consumer needs. The resulting hierarchy of important needs and requirements represents the foundation for solutions and strategies to improve the quality of a consumer’s life. Analysis of the results clearly shows that among all socio-economic needs and requirements posed to food packaging, safety is the most critical need for consumers. Other packaging properties such as convenience and legal requirements fulfillment are important. Proposed model packaging, which will stratify consumers’ needs and requirements and will help to improve their quality of life, should be characterized by health, simplicity, identity, aesthetics, and meaning. The packaging industry is a branch considered to have high potential in the field of applying innovative solutions. This is mainly related to the desire of introducing solutions in the areas of improving safety, functionality, communication and environmental protection. Identification and understanding of consumer needs is a valuable source of information useful when developing improvements. Proposed components of model packaging follow the motto of the World Packaging Organization, which says: “Better quality of life through better packaging.”

Food Packaging Innovations Balance Convenience with Sustainability

Food Packaging Innovations Balance Convenience with Sustainability

Grafted cellulose: a bio-based polymer for durable applications

Grafting is one of the best method for the modification of physicochemical properties of the cellulose. The –OH groups present at C2, C3, and C6 atoms of each β-d-glucopyranose units of cellulose chains are the most susceptible active sites for the grafting of many monomer units or polymers for the formation of a variety of cellulose-based graft copolymers with advanced properties and potential applications as compared to the bare cellulose. In this review article, a brief introduction to get an insight into the structural features of cellulose is given. After that, the potential applications and recent advancements of various cellulose graft copolymers made in fields of controlled drug delivery, adsorption of harmful, toxic and non-biodegradable dyes from industrial effluents, sorption of heavy metal ions from aqueous medium, modification of electrolyte, electrodes and separators of the modern age Lithium ion batteries, and fabrication of smart and innovative food packaging materials are reviewed.

Impact of bioactive packaging systems based on EVOH films and essential oils in the control of aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxin production in maize

Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus are the most common fungal species associated with aflatoxin (AF) contamination of cereals, especially maize, and other agricultural commodities. AFB1, the most frequent and toxic metabolite, is a powerful hepatotoxic, teratogenic and mutagenic compound. Effective strategies to control these fungal species and AFs in food and feed are required. Active packaging film containing essential oils (EO) is one of the most innovative food packaging concepts. In this study, ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymer films incorporating EO from Origanum vulgare (ORE), Cinnamomum zeylanicum (CIN) or their major active constituents, carvacrol (CAR) and cinnamaldehyde (CINHO), respectively, were developed and assayed to control growth of A. flavus and A. parasiticus and AF production in maize grains under different aw and temperature regimens. EO doses assayed in cultures were in the range 0.25–4.0mg/Petri dish. The factors aw, temperature, type of EVOH-EO film and fungal species significantly influenced the ED50 values of all assayed films. Growth rate (GR) of both species was usually higher at 0.99 than at 0.96 aw and at 37°C than at 25°C. However, the contrary was found with regard to AF production. The order of efficacy of EVOH-EO films to control growth of both species and AF production was EVOH-CINHO>EVOH-CAR>EVOH-ORE>EVOH-CIN. The effective dose (ED50) (mg EO/plate) for EVOH-CINHO and EVOH-CIN films against A. flavus were in the ranges of 0.125 and 2.475–3.500 and against A. parasiticus in the ranges of 0.121–0.133 and 2.275–3.625, respectively. Under the assayed conditions, the ED90 for EVOH-CINHO film were 0.22–0.23mg/plate for both species. It was the most effective bioactive film to control fungal growth (vapour phase) and AF production, regardless of aw and temperature. This is the first study about the impact that interacting environmental conditions and bioactive EVOH-CINHO, EVOH-ORE, EVOH-CIN EVOH-CAR films have on the growth of aflatoxigenic fungi and on AF production in maize grains.

Application of encapsulated essential oils as antimicrobial agents in food packaging

Recently natural antimicrobials have attracted a great deal of attention from the food industry. Innovations in food packaging have also been focused on the incorporation of these active additives in polymer matrices with the purpose of extending foods shelf life. Essential oils (EOs) from aromatic plants are potent antimicrobial agents. However, their volatility, low solubility in water, and susceptibility for oxidation limits their use. EOs encapsulation is one of the options to reduce these effects and to improve their biological activities. In this review, the relevance of EOs encapsulation and their incorporation into food packaging are discussed. Application of active antimicrobial packaging, based on encapsulated EOs, to foods is also addressed to evaluate their influence in food shelf life.

Nanotechnology for Food Packaging and Food Quality Assessment.

Nanotechnology has paved the way to innovative food packaging materials and analytical methods to provide the consumers with healthier food and to reduce the ecological footprint of the whole food chain. Combining antimicrobial and antifouling properties, thermal and mechanical protection, oxygen and moisture barrier, as well as to verify the actual quality of food, e.g., sensors to detect spoilage, bacterial growth, and to monitor incorrect storage conditions, or anticounterfeiting devices in food packages may extend the products shelf life and ensure higher quality of foods. Also the ecological footprint of food chain can be reduced by developing new completely recyclable and/or biodegradable packages from natural and eco-friendly resources. The contribution of nanotechnologies to these goals is reviewed in this chapter, together with a description of portable devices ("lab-on-chip," sensors, nanobalances, etc.) which can be used to assess the quality of food and an overview of regulations in force on food contact materials.

Novel food packaging technologies: Innovations and future prospective

Abstract Novel food packaging technologies arose as a result of consumer’s desire for convenient, ready to eat, tasty and mild processed food products with extended shelf life and maintained quality. Recent trend of lifestyle changes with less time for consumers to prepare foods posed a great challenge toward food packaging sector for the evolution of novel and innovative food packaging techniques. The novel food packaging techniques, viz. active packaging, intelligent packaging and bio active packaging which involve intentional interaction with the food or its surroundings and influence on consumer’s health have been the major innovations in the field of packaging technology. These novel techniques act by prolonging the shelf life, enhancing or maintaining the quality, providing indication and to regulate freshness of food product. The advancement in novel food packaging technologies involves retardation in oxidation, hindered respiratory process, prevention of microbial attack, prevention of moisture infusion, use of CO2 scavengers/emitters, ethylene scavengers, aroma emitters, time-temperature sensors, ripeness indicators, biosensors and sustained release of antioxidants during storage. The novel food packaging technologies besides the basic function of containment increase the margin of food quality and safety. The novel food packaging techniques thus help in fulfilling the demands throughout the food supply chain by gearing up toward persons own lifestyle. The main objectives of this review article are to provide basic knowledge of different new and innovative food packaging techniques about their way of preservative action, effectiveness and suitability in various types of foods.

Natural Pectin Polysaccharides as Edible Coatings

The most fashionable trends in food packaging research are targeted towards improvements in food quality and safety by increasing the use of environmentally-friendly materials, ideally those able to be obtained from bio-based resources and presenting biodegradable characteristics. Edible films represent a key area of development in new multifunctional materials by their character and properties to effectively protect food with no waste production. The use of edible films should be considered as a clean and elegant solution to problems related with waste disposal in packaging materials. In particular, pectin has been reported as one of the main raw materials to obtain edible films by its natural abundance, low cost and renewable character. The latest innovations in food packaging by the use of pectin-based edible films are reviewed in this paper, with special focus on the use of pectin as base material for edible coatings. The structure, properties related to the intended use in food packaging and main applications of pectins are herein reported.

The Meaning of Nano Dimension Involving Cosmetics: From the Lab to an Industrial Green Process

Cosmetology has made substantial progress in the last thirty years formulating advanced cosmetics: from cosmeceuticals, nutricosmetics and neurocosmetics to specialized medical devices able to generate a mind-body wellness. A comprehensive study for lab-designed innovative and green cosmetic product ready to be industrially processed will be reported and described. The adopted formulation is based on the use of block co-polymeric nanoparticles made by the use of Chitin Nanofibrils (CN) and hyaluronic acid as raw materials. At this purpose, physiochemical biodegradability and safeness data on CN will be reported together with the preparation, characterization, and control of the final nanoemulsions used as base for the final formulation. Some data of safety, tolerability and effectiveness for the lab-designed formulation will be also reported. CN, used as active ingredient binding natural polymers to form block polymeric nanoparticles has been also reported together with the methodologies to produce advanced medications by electrospinning, and innovative food packaging by casting.

Assessing consumers’ adoption of active and intelligent packaging

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the purchase behavior with regard to innovative food packaging techniques and sociodemographic properties of consumers in Turkey (the crossroads of Europe and Asia). Design/methodology/approach – The survey was conducted with 365 people (around 50 persons for each region) who live in the different regions to represent the whole population of Turkey as good as possible. Questionnaire methodology was used to achieve the research objectives. Multiple-choice test which consists of 24 questions (Table I) were selected in order to keep the questionnaire at a reasonable length. Questionnaires were distributed to the respondents in small groups for effective communication. Multiple correspondence, decision tree and prospect profiles statistic procedures were used to identify the purchase behavior. Findings – In the study, some consumers worried that innovative packages might mislead them and therefore sales should be handled under trusted brands. Majority of consumers were willing to use innovative food packages to prevent the microbial spoilage. Consumers indicated that they do not want to see sachets in active food packages due to the probability of mistaken. Consumers who chose the price as a first thing to get their attention in food packaging, would accept the increase in price lesser than 10 percent after seeing the positive impacts of innovative packaging. Most of the consumers’ (74.79 percent) expectation from innovative packaging was the visual ability to observe the history and freshness of foods inside the packaging. Participants indicated that education through commercials (40.55 percent) would be the most effective way in order to increase the overall acceptability for innovative packaging. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of this study was that, these questionnaires were applied only to Turkish consumers and findings might not be applicable to other countries. Practical implications – Better understanding of consumer adoption of innovative packages can help to minimize rejection of innovative technologies. Knowledge of consumer behaviors toward active and intelligent packaging can contribute to developing better industry strategies. Originality/value – This paper gives the detailed information about purchasing behavior of Turkish consumers’ regarding innovative packaging techniques.

Development and oxygen scavenging performance of three‐layer active PET films for food packaging

ABSTRACTPolymeric active materials represent an innovative food packaging concept that has been introduced to improve the quality of foods and to enhance their shelf life. In this article, the effect of the inclusion of an oxygen scavenger in a polymeric matrix, realizing multilayer active polyester films by coextrusion process, is analyzed. In particular, three layer active films, at different mass ratios of the layers, were produced to form symmetrical "ABA" structures comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a polymeric oxygen scavenger (OS) as core layer and pure PET as external layers. Oxygen scavenging tests conducted on the multilayer active structures have pointed out the role of the relative layer thickness in controlling the scavenging capacity, the activity time and the oxygen absorption rate. A modeling of the scavenging phenomena, which combines a quasi steady‐state distribution in the skin layers with a flat profile of O2content in the active core layer, can explain the experimentally observed oxygen absorption rate at short times. Moreover, steady state oxygen transport measurements, performed when the scavenger reactive capacity is exhausted, have shown that the presence of the active phase slightly reduces the O2permeability, compared with the neat PET. The effect, which progressively increases with the amount of active phase in the film formulation, was related to the different morphological state developed on processing. Finally, preliminary shelf life tests on fresh‐cut untreated apples suggest that the developed three layer active films have a significant potential in the shelf‐life extension of oxygen sensitive food products. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci.2015,132, 41465.

Nanotechnology and its Impact on Food and Nutrition: A Review

The last decade has witnessed the development and arrival of novel nano-based food materials, innovative food packaging, intelligent delivery mechanisms of nutrients and bioactive materials, implementation of green nanotechnologies for crop production and nano-biosensors to provide safer foods and waste reduction. Opportunities to exploit and develop nanotechnologies in the food sector have resulted in a large number of patents as food technologists and engineers continue to identify novel ways to re-invent food products that would appeal to consumers on a global scale. However, in the pursuit of delivering patentable technologies, concerns over consumer health and safety in the use of nanoparticles in foods is an ongoing challenge. This review aims to present a discussion of the recent innovations of nano-based food technologies in terms of patented knowledge across a number of applications, future trends and impact on the food industry. As food regulators respond to the potential threat of nanomaterials guided by toxicity studies, we also discuss recent developments and initiatives being adopted to ensure the safe use of nanomaterials based on current predictions.

Nanotech: Propensity in Foods and Bioactives

Nanotechnology is seeing higher propensity in various industries, including food and bioactives. New nanomaterials are constantly being developed from both natural biodegradable polymers of plant and animal origins such as polysaccharides and derivatives, peptides and proteins, lipids and fats, and biocompatible synthetic biopolyester polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkonoates (PHA), and polycaprolactone (PCL). Applications in food industries include molecular synthesis of new functional food compounds, innovative food packaging, food safety, and security monitoring. The relevance of bioactives includes targeted delivery systems with improved bioavailability using nanostructure vehicles such as association colloids, lipid based nanoencapsulator, nanoemulsions, biopolymeric nanoparticles, nanolaminates, and nanofibers. The extensive use of nanotechnology has led to the need for parallel safety assessment and regulations to protect public health and adverse effects to the environment. This review covers the use of biopolymers in the production of nanomaterials and the propensity of nanotechnology in food and bioactives. The exposure routes of nanoparticles, safety challenges, and measures undertaken to ensure optimal benefits that outweigh detriments are also discussed.

Lead Users and Early Adoptors of Bioplastics: A Market-Led Approach to Innovative Food Packaging Films

Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, ThailandFood quality and safety are major concerns in the food industry and bioplastics constitute an emerg-ing and innovative industrial segment which helps address these concerns. The bioplastics industryis characterized by new synergies and collaborations in the chemical, biotechnological and agricul-tural sectors, with antimicrobial packaging being one emerging technology that signi“cantly improvesfood safety. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of stakeholders and leadusers of the adoption of innovative antimicrobial PLA “lms, the researchers conducted in-depthinterviews and used questionnaires. The target group for the study was the experts in the bio-basedmaterials and food industry. The effects of climate change mean that it is becoming increasinglyimportant for individuals to reduce their carbon footprints. Combining the concepts of bio-basedplastics with active packaging properties results an innovative product which is not only environ-mentally friendly, but also is attractive to consumers. Consequently, consumers may push for theuse of bio-based packaging materials as an alternative to materials produced from non-renewablesources. In this paper, we report on the factors that in”uence the commercialization of bioplastics bydescribing the use of innovative food packaging “lms in the processed meat industry as an exam-ple. Research on the role of stakeholders in the value chain, consumer demand for bioproducts,barriers to commercialization, supplier customer linkages, technology transfer, government policyand the acceptance of product premiums are all summarized herein.

Characterization of Bacteriocin‐Coated Antimicrobial Polyethylene Films by Atomic Force Microscopy

Antimicrobial agents can be used to give antimicrobial properties to polymeric materials used to envelope foods for packaging purposes. In this study, we exploited an atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis for the characterization of plastic films activated with antimicrobial agents. The aim was to acquire information on the distribution of the antimicrobials on plastic materials with the ultimate scope of understanding the mechanisms of interaction between antimicrobials and materials to be used for food packaging. Four polyethylene films differing in linear, EVA, and erucamide content were activated by 3 different bacteriocins as antimicrobials, namely, nisin and bacteriocins Bac162W from Lactobacillus curvatus and BacAM09 from Lactobacillus plantarum. The spectrum of activity of the bacteriocins was assayed and shown to include several strains of Listeria monocytogenes. The plastic films were activated by a previously developed coating procedure and the surfaces of the active films were examined by AFM. In addition, roughness parameters related to the single surfaces were investigated by an appropriate software. Significant differences were found between the bacteriocin activated and control (nonactivated) films and the activated surfaces showed lower values of average roughness and surface area ratio. It was not always possible to obtain a homogeneous distribution of the bacteriocin preparation following the coating procedure. This result was dependent on the bacteriocin used and its distribution on the different plastic films. Overall, the bacteriocin Bac162W showed the most homogeneous distribution while surfaces treated with nisin, showing a sort of microtexturing, always gave the highest roughness values. Although the issue needs further investigation, the connection between AFM imaging, roughness, and antimicrobial distribution on active packaging showed the potential to improve the understanding of the interactions between plastic films and antimicrobial preparations that can be important for the innovation in food packaging and science.

Development in the Active Packaging of Foods

Active packaging is one of the innovative food packaging concepts that has been introduced as a response to the continuous changes in current consumer demands and market trends. Major active packaging techniques are concerned with substances that absorb oxygen, ethylene, moisture, carbon dioxide, flavours/odours and those which release carbon dioxide, antimicrobial agents, antioxidants and flavours. The main objectives of this article are to: (1) provide a literature review about the different types of active packaging concepts with respect to mechanisms of action, effectiveness and the effects on foods, (2) provide a state of the art about the experimental development and commercialisation of active packaging concepts, (3) provide a scope of applications and (4) discuss the obstacles to be overcome in order to make extensive commercial application of active packaging in Europe feasible. The Journal of Food Technology in Africa Volume 5 Number 1 (January- March 2000), pp. 6-13

Developments in the active packaging of foods

Active packaging is one of the innovative food packaging concepts that has been introduced as a response to the continuous changes in current consumer demands and market trends. Major active packaging techniques are concerned with substances that absorb oxygen, ethylene, moisture, carbon dioxide, flavours/odours and those which release carbon dioxide, antimicrobial agents, antioxidants and flavours. The main objectives of this article are to: (1) provide a literature review about the different types of active packaging concepts with respect to mechanism of action, effectiveness and the effects on foods, (2) provide a state of the art about the experimental development and commercialization of active packaging concepts, (3) provide a scope of applications and (4) discuss the obstacles to be overcome in order to make extensive commercial application of active packaging in Europe feasible.