Post by account_disabled on Feb 28, 2024 0:32:12 GMT -6
A plant-based coating can replace plastic food packaging.
Plastic packaging can be great for preserving food, but after use, most of it is thrown away and often litters our waterways. Food packaging is directly responsible for a wide range of environmental problems, including overcrowded landfills and greenhouse gas emissions.
Aiming to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic food packaging, researchers at Harvard and Rutgers have developed a plant-based biodegradable coating that can be sprayed on food, protecting it against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms and damage during transportation. The coating could potentially reduce the adverse environmental impact of plastic food packaging, as well as protect human health.
The new coating consists of fibers based on polysaccharides/biopolymers. The material can be produced at scale relatively easily, using a technology called focused rotary jet spinning. The fibrous mate C Level Executive List rial can then be spun from a heating device that resembles a hair dryer and "wrapped" over foods of various shapes and sizes, such as an avocado or a sirloin steak.
The resulting material that encases food products is tough enough to protect against bruising and contains antimicrobial agents to combat spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms such as E. coli and listeria. The plant-based coating can be rinsed with water and degrades in soil within three days, according to the researchers. In tests, the team found that the coating extended the shelf life of the avocados by %.
The new packaging aims to address a serious environmental issue: the proliferation of petroleum-based plastic products in the waste stream.
This is not the first time that researchers have strived to develop eco-friendly food packaging to protect food and replace plastic packaging. Other teams have experimented with packaging made from a type of corn protein called zein, starch and other naturally occurring biopolymers, packaging material made from banana plantation waste, and single-use Styrofoam packaging.
“What we have found is a scalable technology that allows us to convert biopolymers, which can be derived as part of a circular economy from food waste, into smart fibers that can wrap food directly. “This is part of a new generation of ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging,” said Philip Demokritou, director of the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Research Center and corresponding author of the study.
Plastic packaging can be great for preserving food, but after use, most of it is thrown away and often litters our waterways. Food packaging is directly responsible for a wide range of environmental problems, including overcrowded landfills and greenhouse gas emissions.
Aiming to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic food packaging, researchers at Harvard and Rutgers have developed a plant-based biodegradable coating that can be sprayed on food, protecting it against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms and damage during transportation. The coating could potentially reduce the adverse environmental impact of plastic food packaging, as well as protect human health.
The new coating consists of fibers based on polysaccharides/biopolymers. The material can be produced at scale relatively easily, using a technology called focused rotary jet spinning. The fibrous mate C Level Executive List rial can then be spun from a heating device that resembles a hair dryer and "wrapped" over foods of various shapes and sizes, such as an avocado or a sirloin steak.
The resulting material that encases food products is tough enough to protect against bruising and contains antimicrobial agents to combat spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms such as E. coli and listeria. The plant-based coating can be rinsed with water and degrades in soil within three days, according to the researchers. In tests, the team found that the coating extended the shelf life of the avocados by %.
The new packaging aims to address a serious environmental issue: the proliferation of petroleum-based plastic products in the waste stream.
This is not the first time that researchers have strived to develop eco-friendly food packaging to protect food and replace plastic packaging. Other teams have experimented with packaging made from a type of corn protein called zein, starch and other naturally occurring biopolymers, packaging material made from banana plantation waste, and single-use Styrofoam packaging.
“What we have found is a scalable technology that allows us to convert biopolymers, which can be derived as part of a circular economy from food waste, into smart fibers that can wrap food directly. “This is part of a new generation of ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging,” said Philip Demokritou, director of the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Research Center and corresponding author of the study.