Sustainable Films and Coatings for Food Packaging

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Coatings for Food Technology and System".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 7381

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
Interests: natural antioxidants; valorization of food by-products; development of functional foods and nutraceuticals; micro- and nano-encapsulation of bioactive molecules; effect of processing of food bioactive compounds
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the optic of the circular economy system, food industries are focusing their attention on the identification and implementation of new biodegradable and sustainable sources of polymeric materials to substitute petroleum-based synthetic plastics used for food packaging and thus reduce the impact on the environment.

Research on biodegradable polymers through the valorization of agro-industrial wastes and biomasses or by taking advantage of renewable resources often represents a challenge, since the new materials need to possess performances comparable to the currently employed plastics, guaranteeing, for instance, gas and water barrier properties, transparency, and sealing.

For this reason, the development of novel sustainable coatings and films requires an interdisciplinary approach that combines the competences of experts in the fields of food and material sciences, chemistry, and engineering.

In particular, topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Characterization of new sustainable materials for film and coatings;
  • Valorization of agro-industrial wastes/by-products;
  • Bio-based materials;
  • Renewable sources of biodegradable materials;
  • Surface functionalization;
  • Edible films and coatings;
  • Bioactive molecules for active and intelligent packaging;
  • Evaluation of physiochemical and functional properties of coatings and films;
  • Shelf-life studies for the evaluation packaging performance.

Prof. Dr. Gianni Zoccatelli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • sustainable packaging
  • biodegradabile materials
  • bio-based materials
  • active and intelligent packaging
  • renewable sources
  • by-products valorization

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 8614 KiB  
Article
Effect of Edible Carboxymethyl Chitosan-Gelatin Based Coating on the Quality and Nutritional Properties of Different Sweet Cherry Cultivars during Postharvest Storage
by Yu-Lei Zhang, Qing-Liang Cui, Yu Wang, Fei Shi, Hua Fan, Yan-Qing Zhang, Si-Tong Lai, Ze-Hui Li, Lang Li and Yi-Ke Sun
Coatings 2021, 11(4), 396; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11040396 - 30 Mar 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2818
Abstract
Sweet cherry has many cultivars with different storability and nutritional properties. To reveal the reasons for the differences in storability among cultivars and improve the quality of sweet cherries, the surface microstructure of four representative sweet cherry cultivars (Red Light, Ranier, Red Agate, [...] Read more.
Sweet cherry has many cultivars with different storability and nutritional properties. To reveal the reasons for the differences in storability among cultivars and improve the quality of sweet cherries, the surface microstructure of four representative sweet cherry cultivars (Red Light, Ranier, Red Agate, Friendship) epidermis and peduncle at harvest were examined and the effects of carboxymethyl chitosan-gelatin (CMCS-GL) based edible coating incorporating CaCl2 and ascorbic acid (AA) (AA-CaCl2-CMCS-GL) on the quality and nutritional characteristics of sweet cherry were evaluated. Results showed there were significant differences in the wax distribution of the epidermis and the number of stomata on the peduncle surface between four cultivars of sweet cherries at harvest, which was closely related to fruit decay ratio during storage. AA-CaCl2-CMCS-GL coating delayed the onset of decay and the fruit decay ratio in coated groups (3.0%–15.3%) was significantly lower than in control groups (17.7%–63.0%) after 33 d storage. The coating also helped to maintain the quality and nutritional characteristics of four sweet cherry cultivars, including reducing weight loss, maintaining better skin color, peduncle freshness, higher fruit firmness, titratable acidity, AA, total phenolics content, total anthocyanins concentration, and antioxidant capacity. These results suggested that AA-CaCl2-CMCS-GL coating could be considered as a new preservation method for improving postharvest quality and nutritional properties of different sweet cherry cultivars. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Films and Coatings for Food Packaging)
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15 pages, 6970 KiB  
Article
Active Biodegradable Polyvinyl Alcohol–Hemicellulose/Tea Polyphenol Films with Excellent Moisture Resistance Prepared via Ultrasound Assistance for Food Packaging
by Yining Wang, Jinhui Li, Xin Guo, Haisong Wang, Fang Qian and Yanna Lv
Coatings 2021, 11(2), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11020219 - 12 Feb 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3888
Abstract
Poor water-vapor barriers and mechanical properties are common problems of biobased films. To maintain food quality, the barrier and its strength performance need to be improved. Tea polyphenols (TP) are a natural active substance, and their benzene ring structure provides a barrier for [...] Read more.
Poor water-vapor barriers and mechanical properties are common problems of biobased films. To maintain food quality, the barrier and its strength performance need to be improved. Tea polyphenols (TP) are a natural active substance, and their benzene ring structure provides a barrier for them as a film material. Films that incorporate TP also have enriched functionalities, e.g., as antioxidants. Here, active poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-hemicellulose (HC)/TP films with good moisture resistance and antioxidant capacity were prepared via ultrasound assistance. The effects of TP incorporation and ultrasonication on the physical, antioxidant, and micromorphological properties of the films were investigated. Results showed that the addition of TP improved the thermal stability and water-vapor permeability (WVP) of the composite films. When a PVA-HC/TP composite film with a PVA-HC to TP mass ratio of 100:10 was treated with ultrasonication for 45 min, tensile strength was 25.61 Mpa, which was increased by 54% from the film without any treatment, and water-vapor permeability (WVP) value declined from 49% to 4.29 × 10−12 g·cm/cm2·s·Pa. More importantly, the films’ DPPH scavenging activity increased to the maximal levels of 85.45%. In short, these observations create a feasible strategy for preparing high-performance biodegradable active-packaging films. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Films and Coatings for Food Packaging)
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