Biopolymer-Based Smart Food Packaging Systems for Improved Food Safety and Shelf-Life Enhancement

The utilization of conventional petroleum-based food packaging materials for food storage has become common in the preservation of the food products, but in the meantime, they have many drawbacks such as poor biodegradability, limited antimicrobial properties, and the lack of real-time freshness monitoring which has drawn attention to the environment and food safety.The need for sustainable and intelligent packaging technologies that can prolong shelf-life and ensure product quality and safety has grown with the rising food spoilage and plastic waste problem.In the present work, smart food packaging system with biopolymer materials (chitosan, starch, and gelatin), combined with antimicrobial agents and colorimetric freshness indicators are developed.The films were created by the solvent casting technique using the essential oil/nanoparticles and a pH-sensitive sensing component of anthocyanin.The packaging system developed possessed good mechanical strength, better oxygen and moisture barrier properties and showed good antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.For real-time freshness monitoring, the intelligent sensing layer had specific colourimetric responses under spoilage conditions.Shelf-life studies showed a lesser growth of microorganisms and a delay in physicochemical changes, with good moisture retention characteristics and an excellent application potential in terms of sustainable food safety and shelf-life extension.