Emerging sustainable nanostructured materials facilitated by herbal bioactive agents for edible food packaging

Abstract

The chapter discusses the use of several sustainable nanostructured materials extracted from carbohydrate, and protein based sources for their potential use in edible food packaging. The development of natural biopolymer based edible food packaging materials incorporated with nanostructured materials such as nanocellulose, nanochitosan, nanostarch, and others are gaining significant importance in preserving food products. The edible coating/films for food products such as fruits and vegetables, meat and meat products, cut fruits provide several advantages over other available post-harvest techniques including reduced plastic based waste, improved retention of color, texture, nutrients content of food products, etc. Further, the inclusion of bioactive components with the polymer based matrix as edible coating/film application provides added advantages such as antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticholesteremic, antihypertensive, etc. In line to this, a wide range of natural bioactive agents such as Aloe vera, curcumin, sandalwood oil, clove oil, honey, etc. are added to edible food packaging materials for their noteworthy health beneficial properties. In this regards, the nanostructured sustainable materials facilitated by bioactive agents can significantly improve the shelf life of perishable food products including fruits and vegetables, sea based products, meat and meat based products, milk products, etc.