Application of smart packaging for seafood: A comprehensive review.

Nowadays, due to the changes in lifestyle and great interest of consumers in a healthy life, people have started increasing their seafood consumption. But due to their short shelf life, experts are looking for a new packaging called smart packaging (SMP) for seafood. There are different indicators/sensors in SMP; one of the effective indices is time-temperature, which can show consumers the best time of using seafood based on their shelf life and experienced temperature. Another one is radio-frequency identification (RFID) that is a transmission device that represents a separate form of the electronic information-based SMP systems. RFID does not belong to any of the categories of markers or sensors; it is an auto recognition system that applies cordless sensors to indicate segments and collect real-time information without manual interposition. This review covers the use of SMP in all marine foods, including fish, due to its high consumption and high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3), which are the considerable factors of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for human.

Modification and improvement of biodegradable packaging films by cold plasma; a critical review.

Cold plasma is one of the techniques used in recent years to improve the functionality and interfacial attributes of biopolymers. Employing cold plasma for the treatment and modification of biopolymers possesses several advantages including its biocompatibility, elimination of toxic solvents usage, treatment consistency, and appropriateness for heat-sensitive ingredients. Most studies have presented the efficacious use of cold plasma treatment in improving structural, mechanical and thermal properties of film composites. In addition, cold plasma improves the film surface characteristics, particularly in protein-based films, through bringing up the polar functional groups onto the bio-composite surface, consequently increasing roughness, improving printability, increasing adhesion, and reducing contact angle; while it is not effective in the improvement of water vapor permeability of edible films. Cold plasma-treated edible packaging films experienced significant improvement where exposed to microbial contaminations, mainly due to the non-thermal nature of cold plasma technology leading to the protection of antimicrobial potency of bioactive compounds and antimicrobial constitutes. Therefore, it can be concluded that cold plasma treatment is an innovative strategy to strengthen the edible film characteristics as a promising alternative to the currently used chemical and physical modification approaches.

Is the milk we drink safe from elevated concentrations of prioritised heavy metals/metalloids? - A global systematic review and meta-analysis followed by a cursory risk assessment reporting.

Milk has been globally recognised as a comprehensive and vital food source for centuries. However, the presence of heavy metals and metalloids (metal(loid)s) in milk is a global problem. As metal(loid)s are present in the soil due to natural geogenic and various anthropogenic activities, these metal(loid)s are bio-transferred into animal feed, which further results in the presence of metal(loid)s in milk due to bio transfer/accumulation. This systematic review collated information from published literature between 2000 and 2021. It focused on the global issue of metal(loid)s in milk, posing potential health risks. These contaminants enter the food chain through the bio-transfer/accumulation process from soil to animal feed to milk. The key metal(loid)s examined are arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd). A meta-analysis of 66 selected papers revealed the widespread presence of these contaminants in milk samples globally, with Pb being the most studied (43 %). This research estimated metal(loid)s levels or concentrations as 12.71 (95 % Confidence Interval (CI) = 0.16-25.26), 16.09 (95 % CI = 4.31-27.70), 197.04 (95 % CI = 75.28-318.18), 31.67 (95 % CI = 20.14-43.20) µg/kg (ppb) for As, Hg, Pb, and Cd, respectively using Stata™. The metal(loid) concentrations in milk were within the threshold limits other than Pb and Cd. Some studies in America, Africa, and Asia reported elevated Pb and Cd concentrations, raising health concerns. The simulated Risk Quotients (RQ) and Integrated Risk Quotient (IRQ) values generally remain above one, indicating potential human health risks. Notably, the IRQ value increases with more metal(loid)s consideration. Subgroup analysis indicates low-fat milk contains higher metal(loid)s concentrations. While metal(loid)s concentrations in milk largely comply with safety limits, some regions exhibit concerning concentrations. Therefore, continued surveillance to address potential health risks associated with metal(loid)s in milk is necessary to ensure dairy products' safety.

Optimization of Seleno-chitosan-phytic acid nanocomplex for efficient removal of patulin from apple juice.

A novel and effective adsorbent known as Seleno-chitosan-phytic acid nanocomplex (Se-CS-PA) has been developed specifically for efficiently removing patulin (PAT) from a simulated juice solution. The synthesis of Se-CS-PA nanocomplex was confirmed through Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analyses. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed using central composite design (CCD) to examine the impact of four independent variables (PA concentration, amount of nano-complex, duration of interaction between PAT and nano-complex, and initial concentration of PAT) on the removal of PAT. PA concentration of 0.1 % with 2.1 g Se-CS-PA nanocomplex according to RSM polynomial equation and apple juice with 25 µg.L-1 PAT yielded a remarkable adsorption rate of 94.23 % and 87.52 % respectively after 7 h. The process of PAT adsorption was explained using the pseudo-first-order model (R2 = 0.8858) for the kinetic model and the Freundlich isotherm (R2 = 0.9988) for the isotherm model.

Applications of emerging botanical hydrocolloids for edible films: A review.

In recent years, many studies have been conducted on the production of edible films from emerging gums, which are mostly made from botanical sources. However, each one interacts differently with the film compounds, producing films with different properties that may improve or hinder their utilization in food packaging. Therefore, the aim of this review was to investigate and compare the physical, mechanical, thermal and structural properties of edible films produced with these emerging gums. The results of this review showed that it is possible to produce edible films with desirable physical, mechanical and thermal properties by optimizing the amounts and type of compounds in film formulations such as plasticizers, nanoparticles, lipid compounds, crosslinkers and combination of gums with other biopolymers. The future trends of this research include the deepening of knowledge to understand the molecular structures of emerging gums and to address the shortcomings of films based on these gums for their industrial-scale application in food packaging.

Physico-mechanical and structural properties of eggshell membrane gelatin- chitosan blend edible films.

This study investigated the physico-mechanical and structural properties of composite edible films based on eggshell membrane gelatin (G) and chitosan (Ch) (75G:25Ch, 50G:50Ch, 25G:75Ch). The results demonstrated that the addition of Ch increased elongation at break significantly (p<0.05), but resulted in no significant change in tensile strength (TS) using 75G:25Ch, 50G:50Ch mixtures in comparison with gelatin-based film. The water solubility and water vapor permeability of the 50G:50Ch film decreased significantly compared to plain films (100G:0Ch and 0G:100Ch) and other composite films (p<0.05). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy evaluation of structural properties showed that both polymers are totally miscible. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the morphology of the composite films; it revealed a homogenous and compact structure in 75G:25Ch and 50G:50 Ch. Also, the chemical interactions introduced by the addition of chitosan to eggshell membrane gelatin as new resources could improve the films' functional properties.