Package Research Articles

Bio-reconstituted synergistic pectin-phenolic system from mandarin peels: COSMO-RS validated NADES extraction for multifunctional food packaging films.

Environmental UV filters threaten human neurodevelopment: Disruption of central and peripheral nervous system lineage commitment via WNT signaling dysregulation.

The development of organizations engaged in the production of fruit growing products is determined by a number of factors, among which are state support for the industry, the introduction of promising domestic varieties of fruit crops, the organization of the production process, provision of storage conditions, pre-sale preparation and packaging of products, the effective organization of business processes within the organization, including accounting processes. The above factors determine the specifics of the economic activities of fruit growing organizations and affect the formation of production costs. The article examines the procedure for calculating the cost of fruit growing products and identifies factors that influence the choice of the cost calculation method.

This study investigates the determinants of service demand in the packaging and printing industry, identifying 19 key factors through expert evaluation. These factors were analyzed using the Importance–Satisfaction (I–S) Model to pinpoint areas requiring enhancement, with four elements classified within the improvement zone. Considering resource constraints, improvement priorities were established through a modified Risk Priority Number (RPN) framework derived from Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), expressed as RPN = I × F × E. The highest-priority areas for improvement included product pricing, flexibility in meeting customer requirements, suppliers’ emergency response capabilities, and proactive communication regarding raw material price fluctuations. The findings indicate that consumers balance price against sustainability value, highlighting the necessity of setting prices that align with perceived value to sustain trust and meet expectations. Strengthening firms’ emergency response mechanisms and developing an online standard operating procedure (SOP) notification system for raw material price changes can enhance communication efficiency, increase transparency in pricing, and ultimately improve organizational competitiveness.

Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is an important commercial biodegradable flexible copolyester, which is dependent on the fossil-based terephthalates for production. In the present work, two series of PBAT-mimicking copolyesters are synthesized using lignin-sourced aromatic monomers, i.e., methyl 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) vanillate and methyl 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) benzoate, aliphatic dimethyl adipate, and 1,4-butanediol. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with the monomer synthesis are investigated by life cycle assessment, and the solvent usage is evaluated. The copolyesters show reasonably high thermal stability, and tunable glass transition temperature and crystallinity upon varying the aromatic-aliphatic ratio. Aerobic biodegradation experiments of the obtained copolyesters over 90 days show a comparable or even faster biodegradation rate compared to the benchmark polymer PBAT. The oxygen gas barrier of the obtained terephthalate-free copolyester films is effectively enhanced compared to that of PBAT, indicating their potential in flexible food packaging applications.

This community service activity aims to increase the added value of local food products through training in making meatballs and salted eggs in Mokoau Village, Kambu District, Kendari City. Local food ingredients such as beef and duck/chicken eggs are abundant, but their use is still limited to household consumption. The activity implementation method includes preparation, theoretical and practical training, and evaluation of training results. This activity was held from September to October 2025, involving 25 participants consisting of housewives and local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The results of the activity showed an increase in the participants' ability to process local food ingredients into products with higher economic value. The meatballs and salted eggs produced had good taste and potential to be developed as a home business. The training also increased public awareness of the importance of product hygiene and packaging. This activity contributed to community economic empowerment and strengthening local food security through food product diversification.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) quantifies environmental impacts from raw material extraction to end-of-life (EoL) treatment, yet its accuracy depends on reliable life cycle inventory (LCI) data. However, obtaining such data is time-consuming and requires an extensive literature review or access to databases that are often behind paywalls that hinder transparent research. This study introduces a systematic framework leveraging a retrained large language model (LLM) to assist LCA practitioners in retrieving LCI data and insightful information about their environmental impact. The framework follows a three-stage process: (i) a fine-tuned classification model identifies relevant documents, (ii) the LLaMA-2-7B model is pretrained on selected texts to inject domain knowledge into its database, and (iii) a fine-tuned Q&A model extracts LCI and environmental impact data from the scientific literature. The resulting LLM is termed as "Sustain-LLaMA". We implement this framework in two cases: methanol production and plastic packaging EoL treatment. After retraining, the classification models achieve high accuracies (0.850 for methanol, 0.952 for plastic packaging) for unseen data, which means effectively distinguishing relevant studies. The Q&A models with Retrieval Augmentated Generation (RAG) yield F1 scores of 0.823 for methanol and 0.855 for plastic studies. The Q&A models' performances are validated against the version of LLaMA-2-7B without retraining, ChatGPT-4o, and the USLCI database, demonstrating comparable or superior accuracy and efficiency. This framework enhances scalability and precision by automating LCI data retrieval, offering a promising tool for guiding the chemical and plastic industries toward sustainability.

Zein as a basis of green plastic materials: Modifications, applications, and processing.

ABSTRACTIntense solar radiation and the high temperatures it generates tend to result in significant food loss during transportation, storage, and retailing. Although low‐temperature preservation is a key strategy for mitigating these losses, its application is constrained by high energy consumption and carbon emissions. Here, we report a bilayer polymeric packaging film based on energy‐free radiative cooling, which consists of biodegradable Poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) and is fabricated through a continuous preparation process integrating solution coating with electrostatic spinning. The fabricated film demonstrates an average solar reflectance () of ~96.3% and an average thermal emittance () of ~94.0%, thereby achieving excellent subambient cooling performance and significantly mitigating temperature increases within the packaging environment under intense solar irradiation. Furthermore, the film exhibits excellent water vapor barrier performance, as high‐moisture fruits packaged in it produced little visible shrinkage after 5 days of outdoor storage. Additionally, the manufacturing process enables the preparation of large‐scale products. Such scalable, biodegradable and flexible packaging film demonstrates significant potential for application in food fresh‐keeping and contributes to promoting green and sustainable development within the cold chain industry.

Curcumin, the principal bioactive compound in turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), is widely recognized for its pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. However, its low bioavailability remains a major obstacle in the development of curcumin-based applications in food and pharmaceutical sectors. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent technological advancements aimed at enhancing curcumin’s bioavailability, including encapsulation techniques, lipid-based delivery systems, and chemically modified curcumin derivatives. These innovations have demonstrated significant potential in improving the solubility, stability, and absorption of curcumin in the human body. Furthermore, recent trends in research utilizing natural carriers such as plant-derived proteins and polysaccharides are discussed, aligning with sustainable and food-safe delivery approaches. The review emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach that integrates food material science, biodegradable packaging, bioactive compound chemistry, and nanotechnology engineering. As formulation technologies continue to evolve, the application of curcumin in functional foods and health supplements becomes increasingly promising. The article also highlights existing research gaps and future directions, focusing on biological efficacy, long-term safety, and production scalability. This review aims to serve as a valuable reference for researchers and industry stakeholders in accelerating the utilization of curcumin through effective and sustainable smart delivery systems.

In the field of visual communication design, the aesthetic quality assessment of packaging images faces significant challenges due to the complexity and subjectivity of their layout composition. To enhance the objectivity and intelligence of such evaluations, this study proposes a packaging design aesthetic quality assessment method combining image composition features and graph neural networks (CGA-GNN). The method extracts visual structural information from images based on graph construction rules (e.g., symmetry, proximity, rule of thirds) and integrates a graph attention mechanism to improve compositional awareness in node feature aggregation. Experiments were conducted on the constructed dataset of 1,200 annotated packaging images. The results demonstrate that CGA-GNN significantly outperforms existing baseline models in both prediction accuracy and consistency. Specifically, the model achieves a Weighted Root Mean Squared Error (WRMSE) of 0.378 ± 0.018, which is significantly lower than that of GraphSAGE-GAT (0.397 ± 0.021, p < 0.05), GAT (0.425 ± 0.022, p < 0.01), and CNN (0.446 ± 0.023, p < 0.001). Regarding Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, CGA-GNN attains a score of 0.714 ± 0.017, Markedly higher than other comparative models, with a Maximum improvement of 0.073 (p < 0.001). Additionally, its Graph Structural Integrity Rate (GSIR) reaches 0.921 ± 0.016, representing an approximately 15% increase compared to CNN (0.802 ± 0.020). Ablation studies further reveal that the model achieves optimal performance when all three compositional rules are incorporated (WRMSE = 0.378, Spearman’s ρ = 0.714, Kendall’s W = 0.691), validating the complementary effect of multi-rule integration. The findings confirm the effectiveness of deep integration between composition rules and graph neural networks in assessing the aesthetic quality of packaging images, providing technical support for standardized design evaluation, personalized recommendation, and creative assistance.

Potential of recycled polypropylene: Effect of <i>Gigantochloa scortechinii</i> fiber on the morphology and properties of eco-composite

This study involved the creation and characterisation of double-layer films based on furcellaran (FUR) and chitosan (CHIT)—furcellaran complexes. Although chitosan films are quite widely described, a double CHIT-FUR membrane with high solubility and water vapour permeability is seldom reported in the literature. In this work, the physicochemical, mechanical and thermal properties of the obtained double-layer films were examined. The structural properties and morphology of the prepared films were presented using FTIR and AFM analysis. The obtained results confirmed the production of double-layer films, the layers of which differed from each other. The characterisation of the obtained films indicated that the 9:1 ratio (complex_9:1) is superior in terms of uniformity and performance. The obtained double-layer films have the potential to replace traditional plastics in food packaging and may also serve as a new material for medicine capsules in the pharmaceutical industry.

Lignin nanoparticle-stabilized clove essential oil Pickering emulsion enhanced starch films: Structural properties, antibacterial performance, and preservation effects on cherry tomatoes.

Abstract In this study, we examined the physical, chemical, and microbial properties of two types of industrial paperboards, with the same initial basis weight (Grammage = 180 g/m2). One type was made from bagasse (Sugarcane stalk residue), while the other was recycled. Following the guidelines set by the International Organization for Standardization, we employed various apparatuses to analyze the similarities and differences between the two paperboards, with the results undergoing statistical analysis. The findings showed that both types of paperboards met the quality indicators established by the standards of the International Organization for Standardization. Notably, the bagasse-based paperboard exhibited superior microbial properties, hydrophilicity, water absorption, flexibility, folding endurance, tear resistance, and stiffness compared to recycled paperboard. Conversely, the recycled paperboard demonstrated higher tensile strength than the bagasse paperboard. Overall, the results indicate that both types of paperboards provide viable solutions to various challenges in sustainable packaging and could help address issues within the food packaging industry.

In 2024, the global average temperature reached 1.55 °C above the pre-industrial level for the first time. However, we could still keep the long-term global average temperature below 2 °C if all possible measures are taken to mitigate greenhouse gases. It is widely accepted that methane (CH4) mitigation can slow global warming in the near term. Among all approaches toward this goal, the utilization of aerobic methanotrophs, which are natural catalysts for the conversion of CH4, emerges as a promising solution. Previously, we identified a candidate for CH4 mitigation, Methylotuvimicrobium buryatense 5GB1C, which exhibits a greater growth rate and CH4 consumption rate than other known methanotrophs at 500 ppm CH4. In this study, we address aspects of the practical applications of this methanotroph for CH4 mitigation. We first examined temperature and medium conditions to optimize M. buryatense 5GB1C growth at 500 ppm CH4. The results show that M. buryatense 5GB1C has a broad optimal temperature range for growth at 500 ppm, from 15 °C to 30 °C, and that its growth rate is consistently improved by 20–30% in 10-fold-diluted medium. Next, to demonstrate the feasibility of CH4 removal at low concentrations by this methanotroph, we applied it in a laboratory-scale packed-bed column reactor for the treatment of 500 ppm CH4 and tested different packing materials. The column reactor experiments revealed a maximum elimination capacity of 2.1 g CH4 m−3 h−1 with 2 mm cellulose beads as the packing material. These results demonstrate that with further technological innovation, this methanotroph has the potential for real-world methane mitigation.

Polysaccharide-based composites, such as those containing chitosan, offer significant potential due to their biodegradability, non-toxicity and membrane-forming properties. Chitosan, due to its functional groups, is ideal for nano-/microcapsule formation. Encapsulation protects bioactive components from environ-mental stress, improves physicochemical properties and enhances biological and antimicrobial activity. This research has developed a surfactant-free method to produce beeswax and olive oil nano-/microcapsules stabilized solely within a chitosan matrix without synthetic stabilisers or additional surfactants. The formation of gels and films containing these nano/micro capsules was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Incorporation of the nano/micro capsules into the matrix reduced the mechanical properties compared to the control sample, but significantly improved the hydrophobicity and UV barrier properties. Microbiological tests revealed mild antibacterial properties, highlighting the potential of the composites for applications in cosmetics, such as emulsions and creams, and in food technology, as coatings and packaging materials. The encapsulation process enables the straightforward integration of bioactive ingredients, thus expanding the potential applications.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-19814-w.

ABSTRACTIn this study, nanocomposite films were developed from cassava starch and pectin, functionalized with guava peel polyphenol nanoparticles and reinforced with a polylactic acid bilayer. Guava peel, an agro‐waste, is a rich source of polyphenolic compounds. It was processed into nanoparticles and integrated into the biopolymer matrix to improve structural, functional and protective properties. Mechanical evaluation demonstrated that tensile strength increased from 9.05 MPa in the control film to 15.6 MPa in the film containing 25% peel nanoparticles (PCS/G5), indicating effective reinforcement of the polymer network. Barrier properties were enhanced, with water vapour permeability reduced to 0.05 × 10−10 g m−1 s−1 Pa−1 in the PCS/G5 film. The bioactivity of the films was markedly improved, with antioxidant capacity reaching 69.8% DPPH radical scavenging compared with 5.9% in the control, and antimicrobial activity resulting in inhibition zones of 18.5 mm against Escherichia coli and 24.5 mm against Staphylococcus aureus. Soil burial assays confirmed complete biodegradation within 42 days. Packaging trials using spray‐dried stevia powder validated the films' performance, showing retention of 70.1% antioxidant activity after 5 months of storage compared with 52.9% in kraft paper packaging, while maintaining powder flowability and bulk density similar to commercial laminate films. The findings demonstrate that guava peel–fortified cassava starch–pectin composites combine mechanical strength, barrier protection, bioactivity and biodegradability, establishing their potential as high‐performance materials for sustainable food packaging.

ABSTRACTThe present study investigated composites prepared from banana pseudostem fibres (BF) and gum arabic (GA), in different formulations (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 wt% GA), as an innovative material for fruit packaging. Experimentally, the fibres were extracted using a thermomechanical method to produce pulp, which was then hot‐pressed with GA to form composite boards with an average grammage of 461 g/m2. Commercial packaging made from recycled paper pulp was used as a control. Assessment of the mechanical properties of the boards indicated superior performance by the 15 and 25 wt% GA composites, with respective tensile strength values of 2.7 and 3.1 MPa compared to the control (2.5 MPa), and flexural strength of 20.6 and 3.1 MPa concerning the control (4.6 MPa). Additionally, all the formulations exhibited low deformability, particularly the 100 wt% fibre composite, which showed only 0.4% deformation compared to 3.2% for the control. These results suggest that BF exhibits low deformability and that GA contributed to fibre bonding and cohesion, increasing the tensile modulus of the composites by up to tenfold. Thermogravimetric analysis of the boards showed thermal stability below 200°C, while the water absorption test showed significant absorption, with a maximum value of 358.3% compared to 130.5% for the control. Additionally, FTIR spectroscopy indicated no chemical interaction between GA and BF in the composites. The mechanical properties of the composites were superior to those of the recycled paper pulp packaging. Therefore, the composites show potential as an alternative cushioning material that may align with circular economy principles.

We introduce a general approach for analyzing large-scale text-based data, combining the strengths of neural network language processing and generative statistical modeling to create a factor structure of unstructured data for downstream regressions typically used in social sciences. We generate textual factors by (i) representing texts using vector word embedding, (ii) clustering the vectors using locality-sensitive hashing to generate supports of topics, and (iii) identifying relatively interpretable spanning clusters (i.e., textual factors) through topic modeling. Our data-driven approach captures complex linguistic structures while ensuring computational scalability and economic interpretability, plausibly attaining certain advantages over and complementing other unstructured data analytics used by researchers, including emergent large language models. We conduct initial validation tests of the framework and discuss three types of its applications: (i) enhancing prediction and inference with texts, (ii) interpreting (non–text-based) models, and (iii) constructing new text-based metrics and explanatory variables. We illustrate each of these applications using examples in finance and economics such as macroeconomic forecasting from news articles, interpreting multifactor asset pricing models from corporate filings, and measuring theme-based technology breakthroughs from patents. Finally, we provide a flexible statistical package of textual factors for online distribution to facilitate future research and applications. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, finance. Funding: The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Becker Friedman Institute of Economics, the Fama-Miller Center for Research in Finance, INQUIRE Europe, the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, and the Risk Institute at OSU Fisher College of Business (while L. W. Cong was a fellow at the institute). W. Zhu acknowledges financial support from the Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program [Grant 2022Z04W02016], the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management [Research Grant 2022051002], and the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72442014]. Supplemental Material: The online appendices and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.01180 .