Recent Advances in the Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Capabilities of PLA Based Active Food Packaging

The food industry has numerous difficulties in meeting consumers demands for excellent quality, convenient, flavorful, and long-lasting food. We need new packaging solutions for food to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills and the damage it causes to the environment. To reduce trash and save resources, food containers should be biodegradable, antimicrobial, and antioxidant. In terms of biopolymers used in food packaging, Polylactic acid (PLA) is by far the most common. Applications for PLA in biomedical materials and food packaging seems to be promising because of its biodegradability, FDA clinical approval, and renewability. The future of packaging may lie in PLA-based polymers that have antioxidant and antibacterial additives added to them. As a result, chemicals like antimicrobials and antioxidants have found widespread application in food packaging, enhancing quality, safety, and shelf life. Natural active substances including tannin, gallic acid, catechin, curcuminessential oils, as well as synthetic active agents like Ag, Cu, ZnO, and TiO2, exhibit broad antibacterial and antioxidant activity and impede harmful microbes. The purpose of this review is to analyze the antioxidant and antibacterial capabilities of active chemicals in PLA matrices. The integration of active compounds into packaging and its methods are described. The effects of active chemicals and nanoparticles on the mechanical & barrier properties of PLA food packaging are also detailed.