Starch fiber enhances protection and reduces damage.
For production purposes Eco-friendly alternatives to plastic food packaging and containersa scientist Rutgers developed a biodegradable vegetable coating that can be sprayed on food, protecting against pathogens and spoilage as well as spoilage during transport.
Image credit: Engin Akyurt/Unsplash, free license
The scalable process has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of plastic food packaging as well as protect human health.
Philip Demokritou, Director of the Center for Advanced Materials Research and Nanoscience, and Henry Rutgers, said: “We knew we needed to get rid of petroleum-based food packaging and replace it with something something more sustainable, biodegradable and non-toxic. Chair of Nanoscience and Environmental Bioengineering at Rutgers . School of Public Health and Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences. “And we asked ourselves at the same time: ‘Can we design food packaging that extends shelf life and reduces food waste while enhancing food safety?’ ‘
Demokritou added, “And what we’ve come up with is a scalable technology that allows us to make biofilms, which can be made as part of a circular economy from substances. food waste, into smart fibers that can wrap food directly. This is part of a new generation of ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging. “
The research was carried out in collaboration with scientists at Harvard University and was funded by the Harvard-Nanyang University of Technology/Sustainable Nanotechnology Initiative Singapore.
Their articlepublished in a scientific journal Natural food, describes a new type of packaging technology using polysaccharide/biopolymer-based fibers. Much like Spider-Man’s web in the Marvel comics, this fibrous material can be spun from a hair dryer-like heating device and “wrapped” foods in a variety of shapes and sizes. different sizes, such as avocado or sirloin steak. The result is a material that wraps the food product strong enough to protect bruises and contains antibacterial agents to fight spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms such as E. coli and listeria.
The research paper includes a description of the technology known as focused rotary jet spinning, a biofilm forming process, and quantitative evaluations showing that the coating has extended shelf life. the use of avocados by 50%. According to research, the mulch can be washed off with water and decomposed in the soil within three days.
The new packaging aims to solve a serious environmental problem: the proliferation of petroleum-based plastic products in the waste stream. Demokritou says efforts to limit plastic use, such as legislation in states like New Jersey to eliminate the distribution of plastic shopping bags at grocery stores, can help. . But he wants to do more than that.
Demokritou said: “I am not against plastic. “I am against the petroleum-based plastics that we continue to throw away because only a small fraction of it can be recycled. Over the past 50 to 60 years, during the Plastic Age, we have dumped 6 billion tons of plastic waste into our environment. They’re out there slowly degrading. And these tiny fragments are making up the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe. “
Growing evidence from Demokritou’s research team and others points to potential health effects.
The paper describes how the new fibers that wrap food are laced with natural antibacterial ingredients – thyme oil, citric acid and nisin. Researchers in the Demokritou research group can program such smart materials to act as sensors, activating and destroying bacterial strains to ensure food arrives uncontaminated. This will address the growing concern about foodborne illnesses as well as reduce the rate of food spoiling, Demokritou said.
Source: Rutgers University
