Antibacterial hydrogels for food safety: recent advances and applications

Antibacterial hydrogels represent a class of biomaterials that integrate multicomponent synergy and multimodal antibacterial mechanisms. Precise engineering of their composition and modular architecture enables the integration of potent antibacterial action, versatility, and enhanced biocompatibility, demonstrating remarkable potential for advanced antimicrobial applications. This review provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of cross-linking design paradigms, classification, antibacterial mechanisms, and applications of antibacterial hydrogels. We emphasize that elucidating structure-activity relationships and deeper understanding of antibacterial mechanisms are critical for developing novel antibacterial hydrogels, especially for food applications. The review culminates in identifying pivotal research directions and persistent technical challenges that must be addressed to propel the field forward.