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The purpose of this paper was to develop an antimicrobial edible film coated with essential oils for packaging application with characterization of its physicochemical properties. Livestock products especially meat products need special packaging system for protection. The most well-known packaging materials are polyethylene or co-polymer-based materials which have led to serious ecological problems due to their non-biodegradability and non-renewable nature. There has been a growing interest for edible films in recent years trying to reduce the amount of wastes, capable of protecting the food once the primary packaging is open, and because of public concerns about environmental protection. Various kinds of antimicrobial substances can also be incorporated into edible films to improve their functionality, as these substances could limit or prevent microbial growth on food surface.

Biopolymers such as carrageenan and carboxymethylcellulose and their various combinations were tried to develop an edible film. The levels of antimicrobial substances such as oregano and thyme essential oils were standardized on the basis of their minimal inhibitory concentration against Escherichia coli, Salmonella pullorum, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. Standardized edible film coated with standardized concentration of essential oil was examined for different physicochemical properties and compared with edible film without essential oil.

In total, 1.5 per cent (w/v) solution of carrageenan was found best suited biopolymer for edible film formation on the basis of thickness, transparency and elongation ability. Combined concentration of oregano (0.02 per cent) and thyme (0.03 per cent) essential oils were found to be best suited for coating the edible film as antimicrobial application.

Future research may benefit from the present attempt in evaluating the potency of easily available agricultural by produces for preparation of economically viable edible film incorporated with various natural biopreservatives in combination for the enhancement of shelf life.

Antimicrobial packaging for enhancing the quality and shelf life of stored meat products offers great scope for further research in this field. Moreover, the literature pertaining to the application of edible films containing biopreservative for chicken meat products is very limited.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of functional properties of the polysaccharide-based component and their application in developing edible film and coating for the food processing sector.

In this review study, approximately 271 research and review articles focusing on studies related to polysaccharide-based components and their film-forming properties. This article also focused on the application of polysaccharide-based edible film in the food sector.

From the literature reviewed, polysaccharide components and components-based edible film/coating is the biodegradable and eco-friendly packaging of the materials and directly consumed by the consumer with food. It has been reported that the polysaccharide components have excellent properties such as being nontoxic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal and with good nutrients. The polysaccharide-based edible film has lipid and gas barrier properties with excellent transparency and mechanical strength. In various studies, researchers worked on the development of polysaccharide-based edible film and coating by incorporating plant based natural antioxidants. This was primarily done for obtaining improved physical and chemical properties of the edible film and coating. In future, the technology of developing polysaccharide-based edible film and coating could be used for extending the shelf life and preserving the quality of fruits and vegetables at a commercial level. There is more need to understand the role of edible packaging and sustainability in the food and environment sector.

Through this review paper, possible applications of polysaccharide-based components and their function property in the formation of the edible film and their effect on fruits, vegetables and other food products are discussed after detailed studies of literature from thesis and journal article.

The physical, biomechanical and chemical properties of the composite biodegradable films are examined by their chemical composition, structure, processing conditions and economics. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to develop standard composite biodegradable films by optimizing the process (drying time and temperature) and composition (whey protein concentrate; WPC and sodium alginate; SA).

Composite WPC–SA films were developed using the Box–Behnken design of response surface methodology (RSM), with individual and interactive effects of process variables on the response variables (quality characteristics). Three independent factors at three different levels (WPC: 5–7 g, SA: 0.1–0.5 g and drying temperature: 35°C–45°C) were evaluated for their effects on physical and biomechanical properties, namely, thickness, penetrability, moisture content, water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), density, solubility, transmittance and color variables. The results were analyzed using ANOVA. For each response, second-order polynomial regression models and resulting equations were developed.

The response surface plots were constructed for representing a relationship between process parameters and responses. All responses were optimized as the best and desired, namely, thickness (180 µm), penetrability (7.63 N), moisture (28.05%), WVTR (1.87 mg/m²t), solubility (36.12%), density (1.33 g/ml), transmittance (40.55%), L* value (52.50), a* value (0.35) and b* value (13.70). The regression models exhibited “good fit” of experimental data with a high coefficient of determination. A close agreement was found between experimental and predicted values.

These biodegradable films can be promisingly used in the food packaging system without the problem of disposability.

The composite films with proteins and polysaccharides can be developed, which have improved physical and biomechanical properties.

This review discusses the concept of edible nanocoatings (ENCs), the biomaterials used in the coating matrices, techniques of coating development, applications, challenges and safety regulations associated with nanotechnology in food products. These ENCs are capable of imparting increased shelf life, improved appearance, better physiological qualities and bioactive potentials such as antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. ENCs can be developed using the layer-by-layer method which forms multiple alternative layers adhered together primarily by electrostatic interactions.

Various keywords such as edible coatings (ECs), safety aspects and nanocoatings were used to search the literature from Google Scholar, Research Gate, ScienceDirect, Springer Link, Taylor and Francis and PubMed. After searching enough literature, 113 articles and research papers were examined, which provides the updated overview of different aspects of edible nano-coatings.

Consumers today are very much aware of the food quality and its safety. They demand food products with longer shelf life, which are minimally processed with natural or no preservatives. ECs based on biopolymers is an alternative technique, which is biodegradable and can be consumed as such without posing any safety risks. The emergence of nanotechnology in food processing has provided new insights to develop ECs at the nanoscale with improved mechanical and barrier properties

ECs are beneficial to consumers and to the environment. ECs have generated significant attention over years as an alternative to fossil-based plastics, considering their renewable and biodegradable features

The purpose of this paper is to acquaint the readers with recent developments in biopolymer-based food packaging materials like natural biopolymers (such as starches and proteins), synthetic biopolymers (such as poly lactic acid), biopolymer blending and nanocomposites grounded on natural and synthetic biopolymers. This paper is an attempt to draw the readers towards the advantages and attributes of new era polymers to diminish the usage of traditional non-biodegradable polymers.

Plastic packaging for food and associated applications is non-biodegradable and uses up valuable and treasured non-renewable petroleum products. With the current focus on researching alternatives to petroleum, research is progressively being channelized towards the development of biodegradable food packaging, thereby reducing adverse impact on the environment.

Natural biopolymer-based nanocomposite packaging materials seem to have a scintillating future for a broad range of applications in the food industry, including advanced active food packaging with biofunctional attributes. The present review summarizes the scientific information of various packaging materials along with their attributes, applications and the methods for production.

This is an apropos review as there has been a recent renewed concern in research studies, both in the industry and academe, for development of new generation biopolymer-based food packaging materials, with possible applications in many areas.

This paper aims to update with information about edible coating on minimally processed and fresh fruits, focussing on the composition, active ingredients, antimicrobial concentration and their effect on ripening rate, phytonutrients retention and shelf-life of fruits. In future, the data will be helpful for the processors to select the best coating material and its effective concentration for different fresh and minimally processed fruits.

Major scientific information was collected from Scopus, Web of Science, Mendeley and Google Scholar. Several key words such as postharvest, edible coating, phytonutrients, shelf-life enhancement, bioactive compounds, minimally processed fruits and antimicrobial compounds were used to find the data. Relevant information was collected by using 90 recent research and review articles.

The main findings of this comprehensive review are to improve the quality of fruits, to meet the next-generation food security needs. However, in the process of achieving the goal of improving quality of food produce, embrace of synthetic, non-biodegradable packaging materials have increased, creating serious pollution problem. Amidst several alternatives for replacement of synthetic packaging, the option of biodegradable films and coatings showed promising results.

The paper represents recent information about the edible coating used for the enhancement of shelf-life of fresh and minimally processed fruits.

The inclusion of natural antioxidants and nanoparticles into edible coatings can improve their structure, functionality and applicability in foods. This study aims to determine the antibacterial effect of new nano-composite based on bean pod shell gum (BPSG), silver nanoparticle (SNP) and herbal essential oil (EO).

For this purpose, BPSG (4 per cent w/v), SNP (0.5-1 per cent w/v) and Helichrysum arenarium EO (1-2 per cent v/v) were mixed. After preparation the edible film, the antibacterial activity was tested on five food-borne pathogenic bacteria in two categories including two-gram positives and three-gram negatives bacteria. The EO composition was determined by GC–mass spectrometry and the antibacterial activity was tested using disk diffusion test.

Results showed that gram-positive bacteria were more susceptible than gram-negative bacteria. Increasing Helichrysum arenarium EO and SNP content increased antimicrobial activity of the edible film based on BPSG, so that the treatment containing 2 per cent v/v Helichrysum arenarium EO and 1 per cent w/v SNP led to the highest inhibition zone (8.1-13.1 mm) compared to treatment containing 1 per cent v/v Helichrysum arenarium EO and 0.5 per cent w/v SNP with inhibition zone range of 5.4-9.9 mm and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.41). Also, the chemical composition analysis of the EO identified a total of 38 compounds in which a-pinene (32 per cent), 1,8-cineole (16 per cent), α-humulene (15 per cent) and ß-caryophyllene (8 per cent) were the main fractions. Other separated components accounted less than 29 per cent of the oil.

In general, SNP and Helichrysum arenarium EO improved the functional properties including the antimicrobial activity of the edible film based on BPSG, which increases the potential to be used as active packaging for fresh products.

The purpose of this study was to prepare alginate and chitosan-based edible coatings incorporating Schinus terebinthifolia and Piper nigrum essential oils. The prepared films were applied on minimally processed pineapple to study the microbial inhibition of Gram + and Gram – bacteria and fungi and to evaluate the shelf life of the minimally processed fruit.

In this study alginate and chitosan-based edible coating were prepared and applied on minimally processed pineapple. The edible coatings were evaluated microscopically, by the power of reducing microbial contamination, by the shelf-life improvement.

This study demonstrates that the incorporation of the essential oils P. nigrum and S. terebinthifolia contributed to the inhibition of all the microorganisms studied and improved the shelf life of minimally processed pineapple. This is especially true for P. nigrum in the chitosan-based edible coating, where the shelf life was improved by 45 days.

Because of the pandemic, it was not possible to perform the sensory analyses of the antimicrobial alginate and chitosan-based edible coatings prepared.

From the results obtained, it is possible to state that the antimicrobial alginate and chitosan-based edible coatings incorporating S. terebinthifolia and P. nigrum essential oils can be used on minimally processed fruits and prolong their shelf life.

Due to the lifestyle of modern consumers, who demand speed and practicality and the need to consume fruits for health and quality of life, minimally processed fruits covered with edible coatings incorporating natural antimicrobial additives can provide a practical solution.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that alginate and chitosan-based edible coatings that incorporate P. nigrum and S. terebinthifolia applied on minimally processed fruit, have been studied.

The main purpose of this paper was to evaluate the influence of the zein coating containing essential oils on the sensory characteristics of sodium-reduced mozzarellas.

Mozzarellas were prepared by dipping in brine containing 5, 10, 15 or 20% of NaCl (w/v) that correspond, respectively, to 25, 50, 75 and 100% of NaCl content used in industry. These salted mozzarellas and another one, unsalted, were coated by an edible zein film added with 3% of a mixture of thyme and garlic essential oils (1:1). They were subjected to sensory analysis in relation to salty taste and overall impression. The mozzarella without salt reduction (20% NaCl w/v), coated or uncoated with the edible film, was also subjected to the analysis of water loss and microbiological quality, in order to evaluate the impact of this film on product quality.

The zein coating added with oils did not compromise the sensory acceptance of the mozzarella prepared with up to 50% of salt reduction. Water loss and microbial growth were lower in zein-coated mozzarella than in uncoated mozzarella. These results showed that this film could be applied as natural additive, contributing to the microbiological and sensory characteristics of the mozzarella.

This paper contributes to reducing the lack of studies in relation to new technologies for food preservation and sodium reduction. In addition, the zein coating containing essential oils can be tested on other food categories.