Antimicrobial, UV blocking, water-resistant and degradable coatings and packaging films based on wheat gluten and lignocellulose for food preservation

Nowadays, about 30% of food is damaged or wasted during the transport and preservation process. Therefore, there exists a big challenge to enhance the shelf-life and safety of perishable vegetables and fruits at a minimal cost. Herein, a highly scalable and innovative natural-derived bio-nanocomposites based on the available and low-cost materials (wood powder and wheat gluten) is designed for food preservation. Both the lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNF)-wheat gluten (WG) hybrid coatings on the surface of fruits and the hybrid packaging films show prominent preservation performance for six kinds of fruits with different respiratory metabolisms to prolong the shelf-life of fruits. The multifunctional LCNF-WG coating and packaging displayed excellent barrier properties to oxygen (15.9 cm3 μm m−2 day−1 kPa−1) and water vapour (10.3 g mm−1 m−2 day−1) and excellent antimicrobial, UV blocking, water-resistant, reusable and recoverability performance, making it a promising economic alternative in food preservation with the natural-derived material. Moreover, the low cost and degradation ability of this natural-derived bio-nanocomposite are beneficial for producers, consumers, and the environment.