An overview of tea polyphenols as bioactive agents for food packaging applications

The increasing world population and declining food supply demand innovation in the area of food packaging, which explains the current scientific focus on developing biodegradable and edible food packaging that has a minimum impact on food quality. Tea polyphenols (TPs) are explicitly isolated from tea leaves and have been applied in the food industry owing to their preservative properties. TPs are used as active ingredients in active food packaging and maintain the overall appearance and quality of packaged food, thereby contributing to food safety and consumer health. This review summarizes research on the applications of TPs in food packaging, along with their cellular and molecular mechanisms, with a focus on recent studies. Various techniques and technologies that are currently employed for the development of active food packaging using TPs are explored herein. Successively, the advantages of TP-incorporated food packaging for different food items and the challenges and limitations that prevent the effective use of TP-based food packaging are also identified. • This review focuses tea polyphenols (TPs) as the active compounds for food packaging. • TPs incorporated in food packaging improved the quality and shelf life of food. • The advantages and limitations of TPs-based food packaging have been introduced. • The health benefits of TPs in food packaging have been comprehensively discussed.