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Abstract
The use of edible films and coatings is an environmentally friendly technology that offers substantial advantages for shelf-life increase of many food products including fruits and vegetables. The development of new natural edible films and coatings with the addition of antimicrobial compounds to preserve fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables is a technological challenge for the industry and a very active research field worldwide. Antimicrobial agents have been successfully added to edible composite films and coatings based on polysaccharides or proteins such as starch, cellulose derivatives, chitosan, alginate, fruit puree, whey protein isolated, soy protein, egg albumen, wheat gluten, or sodium caseinate. This paper reviews the development of edible films and coatings with antimicrobial activity, typically through the incorporation of antimicrobial food additives as ingredients, the effect of these edible films on the control of target microorganisms, the influence of antimicrobial agents on mechanical and barrier properties of stand-alone edible films, and the effect of the application of antimicrobial edible coatings on the quality of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia a Innovación” (MICINN) and “Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Aliementaria” (INIA) and the European Union FEDER program for funding research in this topic (projects RTA-2006-00114-00-00, RTA-2008-00074-00-00 and RTA-2009-00135-00-00). The doctorate program of Silvia Valencia-Chamorro was supported by the Programme Alβan, the European Union Programme of High Level Scholarships for Latin America, scholarship No. E05D060018EC.