Natural bioactives in perspective: The future of active packaging based on essential oils and plant extracts themselves and those complexed by cyclodextrins

Aiming to attend to consumers' increasing demand for synthetic additives-free food products (stimulated by personal preferences or health concerns), the food industry has been trying to introduce natural bioactive compounds as food preservatives. In this respect, the development of active food packaging incorporated with natural compounds could be of great interest. However, this scenario still has some particularities that can hinder its application in the food industry, such as relatively reduced stability and, in some cases, undesirable sensorial properties. Cyclodextrins showed up as an option to circumvent these drawbacks by forming inclusion complexes that can protect the active compounds and perform their controlled release for contact with packaged food. For industrial manufacturing of active packages based on naturally occurring bioactive compounds, inclusion complexation can be considered one of the most promising alternatives. Therefore, this review summarizes the potential of nanotechnology in active food packaging by applying cyclodextrins as a carrier for natural active compounds, which can be provided by conventional sources and alternatively (and cost-effectively) agro-food by-products. The present study will benefit prospects for exploring cyclodextrins in active food packaging, which industrial application, without a doubt, will increase in the coming years.

Automated summary

This review summarizes the potential of using cyclodextrins as carriers for natural active compounds in active food packaging and highlights the advantages and potential challenges of using cyclodextrins to protect and release active compounds.