Advances in antioxidant active food packaging

Lipid oxidation is, together with microbial growth, the main cause of spoilage of a great variety of foods, such as nuts, fish, meats, whole milk powders, sauces and oils. It causes a loss of both sensorial and nutritional quality of foods and may even lead to the formation of toxic aldehydes. Some strategies that are commonly used to limit the extent of lipid oxidation of packaged foods are direct addition of antioxidants or packaging under modified atmospheres in which oxygen presence is limited. A novel alternative to these methods is antioxidant active packaging, whose main advantage is that it can provide sustained release of antioxidants during storage. This article reviews the latest advances in antioxidant active food packaging, with special emphasis on antioxidant release systems. The various methods for incorporating antioxidant compounds in the package, the issues to be considered in packaging design, and the various methods employed to date to evaluate the antioxidant effectiveness of active antioxidant materials are reviewed.