Fortification of edible films with bioactive agents: a review of their formation, properties, and application in food preservation

Abstract

Biodegradable films constructed from food ingredients are being developed for food coating and packaging applications to create more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to plastics and other synthetic film-forming materials. In particular, there is a focus on the creation of active packaging materials from natural ingredients, especially plant-based ones. The film matrix is typically constructed from film-forming food components, such as proteins, polysaccharides and lipids. These matrices can be fortified with active ingredients, such as antioxidants and antimicrobials, so as to enhance their functional properties. Edible active films must be carefully designed to have the required optical, mechanical, barrier, and preservative properties needed for commercial applications. This review focuses on the fabrication, properties, and functional performance of edible films constructed from natural active ingredients. It provides an overview of the type of active ingredients that can be used, how they interact with the film matrix, how they migrate through the films, and how they are released. It also discusses the potential application of these active films for food preservation. Finally, future trends are highlighted and areas where further research are required are discussed.

Keywords:

• Edible film
• active ingredient
• preparation method
• controlled release
• packaging
• food preservation

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFD0400200-4), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2452020008), the Hong Kong Scholars Program (No. XJ2019048) and the Innovation Talents Promotion Plan of Shaanxi Province (No. 2019TD-006; No. 2020KJXX-034).