Edible Films and Coatings for Food Applications
Edible films and coatings play an important role in the quality, safety, transportation, storage, and display of a wide range of fresh and processed foods. Edible films and coatings, while preventing moisture loss and maintaining quality, prevent spoilage
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Lipid-Based Edible Films and Coatings Frédéric Debeaufort and Andrée Voilley
5.1
Introduction
The quality of food products depends on their organoleptic, nutritional, and microbiological properties, all of which are subject to dynamic changes during storage and distribution. Such changes are mainly due to interactions between foods and their surrounding environment or to migration between different components within a composite food. In the last 20 years, there have been over 45 edible packaging patents. During 2006 alone, there were 174 scientific papers focused on edible packaging. Most work covered in these papers deals with water vapour transfer. However, there are other potential applications. For example, edible packaging can be used to encapsulate flavour and aroma compounds, antioxidants, antimicrobial agents, pigments, ions that prevent browning reactions, or nutritional substances such as vitamins. Typically, bio-based polymers, or biopolymers, are obtained from renewable resources. Figure 5.1 shows the different categories of bio-based materials. Polysaccharides such as starch, cellulose and chitosan; proteins such as casein and gluten; and lipids such as waxes are used in manufacture of these types of packaging materials. While polymers extracted from biomass are biodegradable, polymers synthesized from bio-derived monomers have to be tested for biodegradability. In addition, to facilitate use of such packaging materials in the industry, biopolymers have to be capable of being processed under the same conditions as petroleum-based plastics. When a packaging material such as a film, a thin layer, or a coating is an integral part of a food and is eaten with the food, it qualifies as “edible” packaging (Guilbert F. Debeaufort (*) Universitary Institute of Technology, Department of Bioengineering, Université de Bourgogne, 7 bd Dr Petitjean, BP 17867, F-21078, Dijon, France e-mail: [email protected] A. Voilley EMMA Department, Université de Bourgogne – ENSBANA,1 esplanade Erasme, F-21000, Dijon, France e-mail: [email protected]
M.E. Embuscado and K.C. Huber (eds.), Edible Films and Coatings for Food Applications, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-92824-1_5, © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009
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F. Debeaufort and A. Voilley Bio-based polymers
Extracted From biomass
Starch, cellulose gums and chitosan
Proteins Animal (casein, gelatin) Plant (zein, gluten)
Synthesized from bioderived monomers
Produced from microorganisms
Lipids (waxes, fat and oils) Polylactate and other Bacterial compounds polyesters (xanthan, pullulan)
Fig. 5.1 Different types of biomaterials
Fig. 5.2 Transfers that can be potentially controlled by edible barriers
and Cuq 1998). Coatings are either applied to or formed directly on foods, while films, on the other hand, are self-supporting structures that can be used to wrap food products. They are located either on the food surface or as thin layers between different components of a food product. An example of the latter would be a film placed betwee
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