Nanotechnology: An Untapped Resource for Food Packaging

Abstract

Food commodities are packaged and hygienically transported to protect and preserve them from any un-acceptable alteration in quality, before reaching the end-consumer. Food packaging continues to evolve along-with the innovations in material science and technology, as well as in light of consumer's demand. Presently, the modern consumers of competitive economies demands for food with natural quality, assured safety, minimal processing, extended shelf-life and ready-to-eat concept. Innovative packaging systems, not only ascertains transit preservation and effective distribution, but also facilitates communication at the consumer levels. The technological advances in the domain of food packaging in twenty-first century are mainly chaired by nanotechnology, the science of nano-materials. Nanotechnology manipulates and creates nanometer scale materials, of commercial and scientific relevance. Introduction of nanotechnology in food packaging sector has significantly addressed the food quality, safety and stability concerns. Besides, nanotechnology based packaging intimate's consumers about the real time quality of food product. Additionally, nanotechnology has been explored for controlled release of preservatives/antimicrobials, extending the product shelf life within the package. The promising reports for nanotechnology interventions in food packaging have established this as an independent priority research area. Nanoparticles based food packages offer improved barrier and mechanical properties, along with food preservation and have gained welcoming response from market and end users. In contrary, recent advances and up-liftment in this area have raised various ethical, environmental and safety concerns. Policies and regulation regarding nanoparticles incorporation in food packaging are being reviewed. This review presents the existing knowledge, recent advances, concerns and future applications of nanotechnology in food packaging sector.

Keywords: antimicrobial; nanoparticles; nanosensors; nanotechnology; packaging.

Figure 1

Concept behind and mode of action of active packaging and intelligent packaging.

Figure 2

The global trend of research interest in nano packaging (NP) and Nano food packaging (NFP), as estimated by the number of Pubmed (P) and Scopus (S) publications hits from 2000 to 2015 (Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed; https://www-scopus-com.scopeesprx.elsevier.com/).

Figure 3

Active packaging and its association with nanotechnology (Adapted from Mihindukulasuriya and Lim, 2014).

Figure 4

Demonstration of intelligent packaging concept and its association with nanotechnology (Adapted from Mihindukulasuriya and Lim, 2014).

Figure 5

Types of composites obtained from the interaction between layered silicate and polymers (Adapted from de Azeredo, 2009).

Figure 6

Different mechanisms of antimicrobial activity exhibited by nanoparticles (Modified from Li et al., 2008).