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Due to the consumer's pursuit of safe, nontoxic and nutritious foods, edible and/or biodegradable materials have stood out in food packaging and preservation. In this context, the preparation and application of micro/nano encapsulated active ingredients (M/N-E-BAIs) represent a step toward reinforcing the properties of sustainable and controllable food packaging, particularly for the successful incorporation of new substances and functionalities into traditional edible films/coatings. This review, from the preparation of M/N-E-BAIs, the fabrication of edible film/coating containing M/N-E-BAIs to their characterization of multifunction and the application in food, makes a systematic summary and in-depth discussion. Food-grade polymers can encapsulate bioactive ingredients (BAIs) by chemical, physicochemical and mechanical methods, thereby forming M/N-E-BAIs with suitable sustained-release and unique biological activities. Furthermore, M/N-E-BAIs is incorporated into biopolymer substrates by solvent casting, 3D printing or electrostatic spinning to obtain novel edible films/coatings. This advanced packaging material exhibits superior physicochemical and functional properties over traditional food films/coatings. Besides, their applications in foods as active and intelligent packaging can improve food quality, prolong shelf life and monitor food corruption. Even so, there are still many challenges and limitations in formulation, preparation and application of this new packaging technology that need to be addressed in the future.

Currently, edible films have been increasingly explored to solve muscle food spoilage during storage, especially through the incorporation of plant extracts to develop edible packaging materials. Natural polymers matrices with plant extracts are befitting for fabricating edible films by casting methods. In the films system, the structure and physicochemical properties were strengthened via chemical interactions between active molecules in plant extracts and the reactive groups in the polymer chain. The antibacterial and antioxidant properties were dramatically reinforced through both physical and chemical actions of the plant extracts. Additionally, edible films imbedded with color-rich plant extracts could be considered as potential sensitive indicators to monitor the spoilage degree of muscle foods in response to change in gas or temperature. Furthermore, these films could increase sensory acceptability, improve quality and prolong the shelf life of muscle foods. In this article, the types, preparation methods and reinforcing properties of the edible films with plant extracts were discussed. Also, the applications of these films were summarized on quality maintenance and shelf-life extension and intelligent monitoring in muscle foods. Finally, a novel technology for film preparation achieving high-stability and sustained release of active compounds will become an underlying trend for application in muscle food packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near infrared hyperspectral imaging (NIR‐HSI) with a spectral range of 900 to 1700 nm was for the first time used to predict the changes of sugar content in Lingwu jujube during storage. Monte Carlo method was adopted to detect outliers, and multiple scattering correction (MSC), standard normal variate transformation (SNV), and Baseline were used to optimize modeling. Competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), interval variable iterative space shrinkage approach (iVISSA), and interval random frog (IRF) were used to select optimal wavelengths. In addition, partial least square regression (PLSR) and support vector machine (SVM) modeling based on optimal wavelengths were compared. The results showed that 30, 30, and 24 wavelengths were selected by CARS; 106, 87, and 112 feature wavelengths were selected by iVISSA; and 96, 71, and 83 optimal wavelengths were selected by IRF for sucrose, fructose, and glucose, respectively. The CARS–PLSR models provided the best results for fructose and glucose, and iVISSA–SVM model was better for sucrose. The results indicated that NIR–HSI model may be used as a rapid and nondestructive method for the determination of sugar content in jujubes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]