Prospects and Challenges of Nanofilms-based Edible Food Coatings for Enhancement of Their Shelf Life

Abstract

Nanotechnology has drawn much attention as a novel and promising technology in the area of food processing, safety and packaging. Food preservation is one of the most challenging tasks to prolong the storage period of harvested horticulture crops and products. Currently, there are numerous food packaging alternatives that are friendly to the environment, including films made up of biopolymers, which have been created to prolong food’s shelf life. However, compared to conventional plastic packaging, these biopolymers, which come from plant, animal and microbial sources, was not found to have some of the essential physicochemical and mechanical qualities. That’s why the development of new packaging materials is a growing area in the food industry. These flaws could be fixed by strengthening biopolymers with nanomaterials, which also give them antioxidant and antibacterial activity. Nanotechnology-related storage period enhancement strategies could help to overcome the drawbacks of conventional coatings due to their special set of features. In this chapter, the basic ideas and contemporary, extremely effective uses of shelf life extension technologies for crops, fruits and vegetables connected to nanotechnology are explained. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Swarnendu Roy and Akbar Hossain; individual chapters, the contributors.