Advancements in food packaging strategies with a focus on antimicrobials and sensor technologies: a comprehensive review

Abstract

Food that is fresh, healthy, and readily available is in high consumer demand due to busy lifestyles and the growing population; accordingly, strict rules to prevent food-borne infectious diseases have clearly increased over time. In order to provide wholesome and risk-free food without any contamination, food packaging is important. Several studies have been conducted on innovative packaging technologies, and antimicrobial food packaging technology is one of them. Antimicrobial food packaging is a potential approach that successfully incorporates antimicrobials into food packaging films. In the form of a thorough review, this work provides a brief introduction to all the innovative food packaging technologies, focusing on an overview of the 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 types of antimicrobial agents and novel techniques, which are currently in use and those that are still being researched, giving importance to their usage in food packaging. Emerging novel technologies such as active, bioactive, smart and intelligent packaging are considered suitable alternatives to combat the increasingly harmful effects of plastics, not only on consumers but also on the environment. This review gives a brief discussion on the combination of natural and technological approaches for enhancing food packaging strategies. Technology plays a critical role in the discovery of different types of packaging materials, which include biosensors, edible sensors, optical sensors and various kinds of indicators to detect changes in the food's quality. However, while outlining their applications, the challenges and disadvantages associated with antimicrobials are highlighted for future research to be in an appropriate path.