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An oxygen scavenging film based on a catalytic system with palladium (CSP) was combined with modified atmosphere (MA) packaging to extend the mould free shelf life (MFSL) of bakery products. Par-baked buns, toast bread and gluten-free bread inoculated with Aspergillus niger spores were packed in normal atmosphere (NA) and under MA (with 2 vol.-% of O2) with or without CSP. Mould growth was detected after 2–3 days on all products packed under NA as well as under MA without CO2 and CSP. Use of CO2 in MA extended the MFSL by 8–10 days, 16–18 days and 3–4 days for par-baked buns, toast and gluten-free bread, respectively. Use of CSP with MA reduced the oxygen concentration in headspace from 2 vol.-% to < 0.01 vol.-% within 105–190 min with all bakery products. This led to a further increase in MFSL of bakery products by 3–9 days.

In the food packaging sector, innovative packaging technologies have been developed including active packaging. Thereby, antimicrobial packaging systems have been designed to inhibit the growth of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms in packaged food. In this manner, the shelf life of food products can be extended while ensuring their quality, safety, and integrity. This in turn can lead to a reduction of food waste and thereby contribute to a more sustainable handling of food. Taken into account the replacement of the petroleum‐based commodity plastics by materials arising from biological and renewable resources, this chapter presents the latest developments of sustainable antimicrobial packaging systems for potential food application. The focus is on bioactive substances that have been incorporated into biopolymer matrices derived from renewable resources and that have been shown to provide antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms. Special emphasis is placed on publications where the antimicrobial packaging has been successfully tested on food systems. In addition, the role of active packaging, the functions of antimicrobial food packaging systems, and the most studied bioactive compounds such as essential oils, phenolic compounds, organic acids, bacteriocins, enzymes, and chitosan are elucidated.

The traditional role of food packaging is continuing to evolve in response to changing market needs. Current drivers such as consumer's demand for safer, "healthier," and higher-quality foods, ideally with a long shelf-life; the demand for convenient and transparent packaging, and the preference for more sustainable packaging materials, have led to the development of new packaging technologies, such as active packaging (AP). As defined in the European regulation (EC) No 450/2009, AP systems are designed to "deliberately incorporate components that would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food or the environment surrounding the food." Active packaging materials are thereby "intended to extend the shelf-life or to maintain or improve the condition of packaged food." Although extensive research on AP technologies is being undertaken, many of these technologies have not yet been implemented successfully in commercial food packaging systems. Broad communication of their benefits in food product applications will facilitate the successful development and market introduction. In this review, an overview of AP technologies, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant or carbon dioxide-releasing systems, and systems absorbing oxygen, moisture or ethylene, is provided, and, in particular, scientific publications illustrating the benefits of such technologies for specific food products are reviewed. Furthermore, the challenges in applying such AP technologies to food systems and the anticipated direction of future developments are discussed. This review will provide food and packaging scientists with a thorough understanding of the benefits of AP technologies when applied to specific foods and hence can assist in accelerating commercial adoption.

An oxygen scavenger based on a catalytic system with palladium (CSP) was recently developed to remove oxygen in food packagings. Although the CSP worked with various types of food, with some foods, an inhibition of the CSP was observed. Because such catalytic systems are susceptible to poisoning by sulfur-containing compounds, the aim of this study was to understand the inactivation of palladium-based catalysts in presence of foods containing volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs). To achieve this, the oxygen scavenging activity (OSA) of the CSP was evaluated in presence of selected food products. Afterwards, VSCs mainly present in these foods were exposed to the CSP, and the influence on the OSA was evaluated. Finally, headspace analysis was performed with the diluted VSCs and with the packaged food products using proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry. It was found that the catalytic activity of the CSP was inhibited when VSCs were present in the headspace in concentrations ranging between 10.8–36.0 ppbv (dimethyl sulfide, DMS), 1.2–7.2 ppbv (dimethyl disulfide), 0.7–0.9 ppbv (dimethyl trisulfide), 2.1–5.8 ppbv (methional) and 4.6–24.5 ppbv (furfuryl thiol). It was concluded that in packaged roast beef and cheese, DMS may be the compound mainly responsible for the inactivation of the CSP. In packagings containing ham, the key compounds were hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol; in peanuts, it was methanethiol; and in par-baked buns, an accumulation of methional, DMS, butanethiol and methionol. When potato chips were packaged, it was demonstrated that when VSCs are present in low concentrations, oxygen can still be scavenged at a reduced OSA.

Oxygen scavenging film based on a catalytic system with palladium (CSP) was used to prevent lipid oxidation in linseed oil. Linseed oil was packaged under normal (NA) or modified atmosphere with 2 vol% oxygen (MA) with or without the CSP and stored at 45 °C for 6 months in darkness. To evaluate the evolution of primary and secondary oxidation products, conjugated dienes/trienes, peroxide and para-anisidine values were measured. Additionally, volatile oxidation products in the headspace were analyzed. While a significantly higher level of oxidation products was measured in linseed oil stored under NA compared to MA without CSP, thresholds indicating good quality oil based on the peroxide value (15 milliequivalents O2/g oil) and the para-anisidine value (2 absorbance units/g oil) were exceeded under both packaging conditions. In packages with the CSP, however, removal of headspace oxygen kept oxidation parameters below these thresholds, indicating good quality oil over the whole storage period.

Background The ever-growing world population results in the ineluctable increase of food demand which translates in the augment of the global market of packaging materials. Hence, the concept of active packaging materializes as a technology to enhance the safety, quality and shelf-life of the packaged foods. Active packaging systems can contribute to the reduction of food waste by providing, apart from an inert barrier to external conditions, several functions associated with food preservation, namely absorbing/scavenging, releasing/emitting and removing properties, temperature, microbial and quality control. Scope and approach The purpose of this review is to present a concise (but wide-ranging) appraisal on the latest advances in active agents for active food packaging. Emphasis is placed on active functions such as antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, oxygen and ethylene scavenging, and carbon dioxide emitting. An effort was made to highlight representative articles that prompted research on active agents towards viable market solutions. Key findings and conclusions Active packaging is a thriving field given its duality as barrier to external detrimental factors and active role in food preservation and quality. The use of natural active agents is a flourishing field due to the general concern towards natural-based additives. Nevertheless, research is still in its early stages with a long way to go in the design of innovative and economical active packaging materials containing appropriate active agents. The interaction between packaging, environment and food is the key challenge for achieving commercial translation.

Oxygen scavenging films based on vacuum deposited palladium layers were developed to remove residual oxygen remaining in food packages after modified atmosphere packaging. Palladium (Pd) was coated on to a range of packaging films and in different thicknesses using magnetron sputtering technology. To improve the substrate surface, an additional silicon oxide (SiOx) layer was also applied to the films before Pd deposition. To determine the oxygen scavenging activity, the scavenger films were placed into an airtight cell, which was flushed with a gas mixture containing 2 vol.% oxygen and 5 vol.% hydrogen. The results showed that the oxygen scavenging rate was strongly dependent on the coating substrate as well as on the Pd deposition thickness. Packaging films such as polyethylene terephthalate, aluminium oxide-coated polyethylene terephthalate, oriented polypropylene and polylactic acid were found to be the most suitable substrates for Pd-based oxygen scavengers. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the intermediate SiOx layer between the substrate and the Pd layer led to a substantial increase in the oxygen scavenging activity rate (up to 33-fold) for all applied packaging films. Additionally, it was shown that the optimal Pd layer thickness for the investigated oxygen scavenging films lies between 0.7 and 3.4 nm. The resulting scavenger films have the potential to scavenge residual headspace oxygen of sensitive foods within a matter of minutes leading to shelf life extension and overall quality improvements. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Active and Intelligent packaging (AIP) technologies have huge potentials to optimise the food supply chain, to better preserve the quality of the food and enhance the consciousness of the utilisation of food. During the last decades, an extensive research on AIP technologies is being undertaken. However, only very few of these technologies have been implemented successfully in commercial food packaging systems. To identify the key technical, social, economic and legislative factors relevant for a successful development of AIP solutions, a knowledge-based network, European COST Action “Active and intelligent fibre-based packaging-innovation and market introduction (ActInPak)” has been initiated. Currently, 43 countries are involved in the network, with participants representing 209 academic institutions, 35 technical centres, and 83 industrial partners. Among the hurdles for commercial exploitation of AIP technologies, technological challenges are very crucial for successful development of such solutions. Within the COST Action, AIP technologies have been reviewed to identify the most promising technologies. Afterwards, through expert panel discussions and workshops with participants from academic institutions and industrial partners, major technological challenges for successful implementation of such AIP technologies have been identified and discussed in depth. The major technological challenges have been classified as: - Active component: Availability, storage, release, consistence, quality - Intelligent component: Resources, reliability, quality, stability - Integration in packaging: Integration methods, stability of active or intelligent component, activation - Packaging of food: Interaction with food, organoleptic, food safety - Logistic: Information flow, storage conditions, shelf life, sensitivity, deactivation - Quality control: Stability of AIP, quality control at suppliers, producers, food packers, and consumers - End of life: Recyclability, environmental impact, food waste

The traditional role of food packaging is continuing to evolve in response to changing market needs. Current drivers such as consumer's demand for safer, "healthier," and higher-quality foods, ideally with a long shelf-life; the demand for convenient and transparent packaging, and the preference for more sustainable packaging materials, have led to the development of new packaging technologies, such as active packaging (AP). As defined in the European regulation (EC) No 450/2009, AP systems are designed to "deliberately incorporate components that would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food or the environment surrounding the food." Active packaging materials are thereby "intended to extend the shelf-life or to maintain or improve the condition of packaged food." Although extensive research on AP technologies is being undertaken, many of these technologies have not yet been implemented successfully in commercial food packaging systems. Broad communication of their benefits in food product applications will facilitate the successful development and market introduction. In this review, an overview of AP technologies, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant or carbon dioxide-releasing systems, and systems absorbing oxygen, moisture or ethylene, is provided, and, in particular, scientific publications illustrating the benefits of such technologies for specific food products are reviewed. Furthermore, the challenges in applying such AP technologies to food systems and the anticipated direction of future developments are discussed. This review will provide food and packaging scientists with a thorough understanding of the benefits of AP technologies when applied to specific foods and hence can assist in accelerating commercial adoption.

The present study investigated the antifungal activity of Lactobacillus amylovorus DSM19280 as a starter culture for gluten-free quinoa sourdough bread under pilot-plant conditions to extend the microbial shelf life. Challenge tests against environmental moulds were conducted and a negative control with non-antifungal strain, L. amylovorus DSM20531(T), as well as a chemically acidified and a non-acidified control were included. Organic acid production, antifungal metabolites, carbohydrates changes during fermentation and bread quality were compared to wheat counterparts. The application of quinoa sourdough fermented with the antifungal L. amylovorus DSM19280 extended the mould free shelf life by 4 days compared to the non-acidified control. No significant difference in lactic acid production was found between the lactobacilli strains. HPLC-UV/DAD was used to quantify antifungal compounds. The concentration of 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid, phloretic acid, 3-phenyllactic acid and hydroferulic acid were significantly higher (P