Advancements in food packaging strategies with a focus on Antimicrobials and Sensor Technologies: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Food that is fresh, healthy, quick, and fast is in higher consumer demand with strict rules to prevent food-borne infectious diseases has clearly increased over time due to busy lifestyles and world's growing population. In order to provide wholesome and risk-free food without any contamination, food packaging is important. Several studies have been going on in innovative packaging technologies, among which antimicrobial food packaging technology is one. Antimicrobial food packaging is a potential approach that successfully incorporates antimicrobials into the film of the food packaging. In the form of a thorough review, this paper provides brief introduction to all the innovative food packaging technologies focusing on the overview of contemporary antimicrobial agent research targeted at prolonging the storage life of food to enhance its quality and safety via suppressing pathogen development. This study addresses the various kinds of antimicrobial agents and novel techniques that are in use at present as well as those that are still being researched giving importance to their usage in food packaging. Emerging novel technologies such as active, bio-active, smart and intelligent packaging are considered to be a suitable alternative to combat increasing harmful plastic effect on not only consumers but also the environment. This review gives a brief information about the combination of natural and technological strategies for enhancing the food packaging strategies. Technology plays critical role in the discovery of different types of packaging materials which include bio-sensors, edible sensors, optical sensors and various kinds of indicators to detect the changes in the food’s quality. However, while outlining their applications, challenges/disadvantages associated with antimicrobials are also highlighted for future research to be on the appropriate path.