Nanotechnology in Antimicrobial Edible Packaging: A Candidate for Prolong Shelf Life of Food Commodities

The increasing consumer demands for safe and healthier food products have led to the development of novel packaging technologies including antimicrobial edible food packaging by the researcher and further have been focused on the commercialization by the food industries. However, in order to the delivery of food products with high-quality nature, foodborne microorganisms are one of the major reasons for causing food spoilage in packaged and fresh produces. In this circumstance, the application of antimicrobial packaging (AP) can be one of the solutions to provide safe and quality food products with extended storage life. The AP is a category of active packaging, where the use of nanotechnology in developing antimicrobial edible films and coatings provides a tailor-made way to improve the inherent food properties. The inclusion of nanotechnology in AP delivers tunable quality, safety, and stability of packaged food products. Some of the available edible nanostructured materials such as chitosan and inorganic nanomaterials are an effective way of possessing antimicrobial activity against spoilage and pathogenic food microorganisms. Interestingly, several natural resources based on organic and inorganic antimicrobial agents are available at a commercial level. However, nanoparticles are being developed to obtain better effective antimicrobial edible packaging, which has attained a great interest in recent market trends. Among available, the fabrication of nanocomposites-based edible films and nanocoatings are two most important developments in the area of AP with the aid of nanotechnology. Besides, nanoparticles also provide tunable barrier and mechanical properties to the antimicrobial edible packaging film. However, the effectiveness of antimicrobials depends on the release phenomena from packaging material to the food, wherein nanoparticles provide better controlled release. Moreover, the incorporation of nanoparticles into food packaging material is maintained by several available policies and regulations offered by standard authority bodies at national and international levels. In this regard, the present chapter represents the advancement of nanotechnology in AP via developing active edible packaging with controlled release of antimicrobials and also provides improved shelf life while maintaining the quality and safety.