New Challenges and Opportunities in Edible Film Technology

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2022) | Viewed by 5348

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo (USP), Pirassununga 13635-900, SP, Brazil
Interests: microemulsion; nanoemulsion; pickering emulsion; active films
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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Food Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina), Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Interests: food process engineering; fruits and vegetables drying; microwave; biomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The number of published papers on edible, active, and/or nanocomposite films has greatly increased recently. This was originally a consequence of the environmental concerns due to food packages based on synthetic plastics, but more recently, it has been due to great new perspectives in terms of potential implementations of innovations involving biopolymers, bioactive compounds, and other additives, all from renewal resources. Nevertheless, films encounter serious problems when it comes to their production scale-up because they are produced by casting and on a laboratory scale, and when it comes to their applications mainly due to their high sensitivity to water (liquid or vapor). Thus, this can be an opportunity to present and discuss new challenges and opportunities in edible film technology.

In this Special Issue of Foods, we encourage submitting manuscripts producing knowledge on the frontier of state-of-the-art edible films, active films, emulsioned films, and nanocomposites, always based on natural biopolymers. Manuscripts presenting results on the characterizations of films produced using new plasticizers or bioactive compounds, and dry techniques and continuous production processes will also be welcome. Moreover, works on films added to nanostructured components, on studies on in vitro digestibility of these materials, on chemical stability during shelf life, and on biodegradability will be well received because they can elucidate some challenges in this domain.

Thus, we invite researchers to contribute with original research or review articles on these topics.

Prof. Dr. P. J.A. Sobral
Prof. Dr. Joao Laurindo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • edible films
  • active films
  • biodegradable films
  • emulsioned films
  • smart packaging
  • nanocomposites
  • biopolymers
  • extrusion and thermocompression
  • scale-up of film production
  • characterizations

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 7747 KiB  
Article
Production and Characterization of Gelatin Biomaterials Based on Agave Microfibers and Bentonite as Reinforcements
by Isidra Guadalupe Ruiz-Martínez, Denis Rodrigue, Martha Lucía Arenas-Ocampo, Brenda Hildeliza Camacho-Díaz, Sandra Victoria Avila-Reyes and Javier Solorza-Feria
Foods 2022, 11(11), 1573; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11111573 - 27 May 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1658
Abstract
The objective of this work was to obtain biomaterials as gelatin films or biofilms produced by casting, reinforced with a microfiber (MF) from Agave angustifolia Haw bagasse and bentonite (BN) nanoparticles and evaluate the effect of such reinforcements at different concentrations. Agave microfibers [...] Read more.
The objective of this work was to obtain biomaterials as gelatin films or biofilms produced by casting, reinforced with a microfiber (MF) from Agave angustifolia Haw bagasse and bentonite (BN) nanoparticles and evaluate the effect of such reinforcements at different concentrations. Agave microfibers were obtained by a non-abrasive chemical method. Three formulations based on gelatin with glycerol were reinforced with microfiber, bentonite and both materials with 1.5, 3.5 and 5.5% w/w solids content. Physicochemical properties were determined using SEM and FTIR, thickness, soluble matter and moisture. The XRD, barrier, mechanical and thermal properties were measured. The films’ micrographs showed agglomerations on the surface. Interactions between its functional groups were found. The solubility increased when the MF concentration increased. The thickness of the films was between 60 and 110 μm. The crystallinity ranged from 23 to 86%. The films with both MF and BN and 3.5% w/w solids had the lowest barrier properties, while the film with 5.5% w/w solids showed the highest mechanical properties, being thermally resistant. Overall, Agave microfibers together with bentonite were able to improve some of the films’ properties, but optimized mixing conditions had to be used to achieve good particle dispersion within the gelatin matrix to improve its final properties. Such materials might have the potential to be used as food packaging. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges and Opportunities in Edible Film Technology)
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13 pages, 2556 KiB  
Article
Survival Analysis to Predict How Color Influences the Shelf Life of Strawberry Leather
by Raquel da Silva Simão, Jaqueline Oliveira de Moraes, Julia Beims Lopes, Ana Caroline Cichella Frabetti, Bruno Augusto Mattar Carciofi and João Borges Laurindo
Foods 2022, 11(2), 218; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11020218 - 13 Jan 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2990
Abstract
Color change of fruit-based products during storage is an important quality parameter to determine their shelf life. In this study, a combination of relative humidity (RH) and illumination was evaluated on the stability of strawberry leathers. Samples were conditioned at 25 °C, in [...] Read more.
Color change of fruit-based products during storage is an important quality parameter to determine their shelf life. In this study, a combination of relative humidity (RH) and illumination was evaluated on the stability of strawberry leathers. Samples were conditioned at 25 °C, in chambers with RH of 22.5% and 52.3% and under two levels of illumination (no illumination and with a light-emitting diode (LED) illumination at 1010 lx). Samples were analyzed during storage by instrumental color measurements, total anthocyanin content, and consumers’ acceptance/rejection of the product color. Current-status survival analysis was performed to estimate the sensory-based shelf-life of the strawberry leather. The chromatic parameters (a* and ΔE* values) and anthocyanin content changed with increasing storage time and RH, fitting a first-order fractional conversion model. Samples conditioned at the higher RH showed a higher reduction of a* values and anthocyanins losses when stored under LED illumination than those without illumination. The increase of RH resulted in a faster increase of the consumer rejection probability and a shorter shelf life of the strawberry leather. For 50% of consumers’ rejection, the sensory shelf life of the strawberry leather equilibrated at 22.5% RH was estimated as at least 54 days, while it was reduced to approximately 2 days at 52.3% RH. The red chromatic parameter (a* value) strongly correlated to the percentage of consumer rejection in all storage conditions, suggesting that this analytical parameter can be useful as a predictor of strawberry leather’s shelf life. Therefore, the results of this study show the applicability of an approach that integrates instrumental and sensory data to acquire faster information on color changes during the storage of strawberry leather and product shelf-life prediction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges and Opportunities in Edible Film Technology)
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