Diseño de envases alimentarios multifuncionales

Resumo

This article presents the emerging technologies in the food packaging taking advantages from the ability of plastic materials to interact with the foodstuff to design new polymeric systems able to respond to external stimuli: active packaging and smart packaging. The active packaging systems incorporate additives with specific properties (for instance: antimicrobials and / or antioxidants agents) with the main purpose of extending the foodstuff useful life. For the effective release of the active agent, active packaging uses as a stimulus the own food that the packaging contains. In active packaging systems, the active agent has to present a greater affinity for the foodstuff than for the packaging material. Smart packaging can be indicated when food products are spoiled or when some specific packaging conditions have been changed. In this sense, shape memory polymers (able to respond to external stimuli such as temperature, humidity, pH etc.) have gained interest in the development of smart food packaging systems. Indeed, many of these external stimuli have to be avoided during food products transport and / or storage and, therefore, a change on the shape in the packaging material allows knowing if any of the packaging conditions has been modified