Sustainable and Bio-Based Food Packaging: A Review on Past and Current Design Innovations

VERSINO, FLORENCIA; ORTEGA, FLORENCIA; MONROY, YULIANA; RIVERO, SANDRA; LÓPEZ, OLIVIA VALERIA; GARCÍA, MARÍA ALEJANDRA

Foods

MDPI

Año: 2023 vol. 12

Food loss and waste occur for many reasons, from crop processing to household leftovers.Even though some waste generation is unavoidable, a considerable amount is due to supply chaininefficiencies and damage during transport and handling. Packaging design and materials innovationsrepresent real opportunities to reduce food waste within the supply chain. Besides, changesin people’s lifestyles have increased the demand for high-quality, fresh, minimally processed, andready-to-eat food products with extended shelf-life, that need to meet strict and constantly renewedfood safety regulations. In this regard, accurate monitoring of food quality and spoilage is necessaryto diminish both health hazards and food waste. Thus, this work provides an overview of the mostrecent advances in the investigation and development of food packaging materials and design withthe aim to improve food chain sustainability. Enhanced barrier and surface properties as well asactive materials for food conservation are reviewed. Likewise, the function, importance, currentavailability, and future trends of intelligent and smart packaging systems are presented, especiallyconsidering biobased sensor development by 3D printing technology. In addition, driving factorsaffecting fully biobased packaging design and materials development and production are discussed,considering byproducts and waste minimization and revalorization, recyclability, biodegradability,and other possible ends-of-life and their impact on product/package system sustainability