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Review
. 2021 Jan 26;10(2):249.
doi: 10.3390/foods10020249.

Edible Films and Coatings as Food-Quality Preservers: An Overview

Elsa Díaz-Montes  1 , Roberto Castro-Muñoz  2
Affiliations
Review

Edible Films and Coatings as Food-Quality Preservers: An Overview

Elsa Díaz-Montes et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Food preservation technologies are currently facing important challenges at extending the shelf-life of perishable food products (e.g., meat, fish, milk, eggs, and many raw fruits and vegetables) that help to meet the daily nutrient requirement demand. In addition, food preservation has gone beyond only preservation; the current techniques are focused on the fulfillment of two additional objectives, the suitability of the used processes and generation of environmentally friendly products with non-presence of any side effect on health. Moreover, they are also looking for additional nutritional properties. One of these preservation protocols deals with the use of edible films and coatings. Therefore, this review shows an overview of synthetic materials (e.g., glass, aluminum, plastic, and paperboard), as well as the regulations that limit their application in food packaging. Further, this review releases the current-state-of-the-art of the use of films and edible coatings as an alternative to conventional packaging, providing the main features that these biodegradable packaging should meet towards specific uses for the conservation and improvement of various food products. Herein, particular attention has been paid to the main used components (e.g., biopolymers, additives, bioactive, and probiotic components), manufacturing methods (for edible films or coatings) and their application to specific products. In addition, an outlook of the application of edible films and coatings as quality indicators of perishable products is shown.

Keywords: conservation; edible coatings; edible films; foods; lipids; polysaccharides; proteins; quality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of packaging materials as part of the generation of urban solid waste (USW) [4].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scheme illustrating the main characteristics of edible films and coatings.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Main types of dispersed systems generated based on biopolymers, (A) emulsion oil/water (o/w) and (B) colloidal dispersions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Main techniques used for food coating. (A) Dipped; (B) Spread; (C) Sprayed; (D) Wrapped.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic representation of the health benefits after probiotic consumption [113].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Chemical/biochemical reactions in foods affecting their quality [135].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Non-microbial spoilage physical defects in foods [136].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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