Bioactive packaging: turning foods into healthier foods through biomaterials

This paper sets the bases for the creation of innovative technological developments in the production of functional foods, whose bioactive principles and actuators are devised to be contained within packaging or coating materials. Therefore, it gives rise to a novel conceptual approach to develop functional foods, while setting the roots of a new packaging technology termed as bioactive packaging, in which, a food package or coating is given the unique role of enhancing food impact over the consumer's health. The paper is purposely designed to gather some of the most potential or promising developments, which are either bioactive material concepts or which can be advantageously applied to become such. Moreover, the industrial benefits of enclosing bioactives within packaging or coating materials over their direct inclusion in foods are outlined. The technologies reviewed include novel integration technologies, micro- and nanoencapsulation and enzyme encapsulation and/or immobilization. All of these technologies are found to have excellent allies in the particular properties exhibited by biopolymers.