Recent Advances in Gluten-Based Active and Intelligent Food Packaging: A Review.

Abstract

Packaging is considered essential for protecting food from spoilage and enhancing food safety. Synthetic, petrochemical-derived plastics are commonly utilized, but improper use and inadequate recycling have resulted in severe environmental impacts and have imposed serious health risks. To address these concerns, biopolymer-based plastics with active and intelligent functions have been increasingly emphasized in the field of food science, with the goal of improving food safety and reducing packaging waste. In this context, gluten, a protein-based biopolymer, could be useful alternative to synthetic polymer and as well as an emerging tactic to fabricate edible and sustainable active and intelligent packaging. Eventhough there are only few article published on gluten-based packaging but yet it received significant attention to the researcher recently. No review comprehensively elucidated the potential of gluten in smart packaging application. This review primarily focuses on the advances in gluten in active and intelligent packaging film. The chemistry, properties, and source of gluten are briefly introduced and followed by the fabrication, characteristics, and properties of active and intelligent system. Gluten-based active and intelligent packaging used to maintain and monitoring various food products while they are being stored are discussed and then, the challenges and future scope of this packaging are debated. It has been demonstrated that gluten may be utilized to create functional smart food packaging. Active and intelligent packaging film/coatings can be developed by mixing gluten and other biopolymers with active ingredients. Gluten-based films and coatings have been shown to be effective in extending shelf-life and enabling real-time monitoring of spoilage in both fresh and processed foods.