Polymer nano-composite coatings and films: modern insights and emerging strategies to lengthen the lifespan of fruits and vegetables

Abstract

A definite worldwide shift towards healthier and more nutrient-dense meals has emerged in the past couple of decades. There exists an emerging need for efficient preservation solutions that can effectively mitigate the perishable nature due to the increasing interest in healthy and fresh food products. An efficient method for lengthening the post-harvest lifespan of whole as well as chopped vegetables and fruits is packaging, which includes plastic films and coatings, however plastic packaging has the shortcoming of being a significant environmental threat in nearly every nation. Therefore, sustainable alternatives to traditional food packaging comprise films and/or coatings composed of bio polymers. However, compared to conventional plastic packaging, these biopolymers, which come from nature, have shortcomings such as essential physio-chemical and mechanical qualities. These flaws are fixed by strengthening biopolymers with nanomaterials, which also gives the resulting nanocomposites useful features including antioxidant and/or antibacterial activity. These advances in biopolymer-based nanocomposite can be made with the application of both inorganic (eg., zinc oxide, montmorillonite) and organic (such as nanocellulose fibrils) nanomaterials. This review article discusses the worth of biopolymer coating and films reinforced with nanocomposites to package whole and sliced fruits and vegetables to enhance their lifespan.

Keywords

• nanocomposites
• polysaccharides
• edible films
• antimicrobial
• fruits and vegetables