Active and intelligent packaging of food products

Abstract

Conventional packaging must be inert and represent only a passive barrier in the protection of food products from external environmental conditions. Active packaging is an innovative concept designed to incorporate appropriate active substances into a conventional packaging unit in various ways. The role of active substances is to react with certain components of the food or surrounding atmosphere (headspace), with the aim of extending the shelf life, while the initial quality of food remains unchanged. Active substances can be applied in the form of absorbers, emitters or other techniques. Oxygen scavengers, ethylene, liquid and moisture absorbers, flavor and odor absorbers or emitters, antimicrobials, etc. are the most commonly used systems of active packaging. Intelligent packaging is created to monitor the condition of packaged food or the environment in order to provide information about its quality during transportation and storage. Intelligent packaging implies the use of different indicators, sensors and identification using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device - RFID) tags. The first task in designing an intelligent packaging system is to find a reliable interaction between the components of indicator and sensor with the packaged food product or headspace of packaging. They usually react with volatile compounds such as amines, ammonia, and ethanol and metabolites such as H2S, CO2, O2, and ethylene that occur as a result of food decomposition and spoilage. These changes are most often reflected in the color change of intelligent systems, thus indicating, in real time, the quality and safety of packaged products. Intelligent packaging commonly includes time-temperature indicators, gas indicators, and freshness and ripening sensors. In addition, innovation and improvement of nanotechnology and nanomaterials will enable the development of better and new active and intelligent packaging.