Edible coatings and films for shelf-life extension of fruit and vegetables.

The execution of the edible coatings and films for food preservation; vegetables, fruits, meat, and dry fruits has been ladened in history. The study of literature portrays enough pieces of evidence dating back from centuries of coatings or films being utilized for the conservation of numerous fruits and vegetables to stretch their average shelf-life. The mechanism that remains operative in extending the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables beyond the normal shelf-life is the controlled entry and exit of moisture and gases. The non- biodegradable packaging which is also non-sustainable can be substituted with compostable and edible coatings and films made up of natural biopolymers. Therefore, keeping in mind the environment and consumer safety, a score of research has been going on from former decades for the development of edible coatings and films with efficient shelf life-extending qualities. The films composed of proteins exhibit a good mechanical strength while the polysaccharide composed films and coatings show efficient gas blocking qualities, however, both lack moisture shielding attributes. These shortcomings can be fixed by combining them with lipids and or some appropriate hydrocolloids. The edible coatings and films have been integrated with various food products; however, they haven't been completely successful in substitution of the total fraction of their non-edible counterparts. The implementation of edible coatings and films have shown to serve an immense value in extending the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables along with being a sustainable and eco-friendly approach for food packaging.

Application of Glass Transition in Food Processing.

The phenomenon of glass transition has been employed to food products to study their stability. It can be applied as an integrated approach along with water activity and physical and chemical changes in food in processing and storage to determine the food stability. Also associated with the changes during agglomeration crystallization, caking, sticking, collapse, oxidation reactions, nonenzymatic browning, and microbial stability of food system. Various techniques such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, etc. have been developed to determine the glass transition temperature (Tg) of food system. Also, various theories have been applied to explain the concept of Tg and its relation to changes in food system. This review summarizes the understanding of concept of glass transition, its measurement, and application in food technology.