Edible Films and Coatings: Fundamentals and Applications, 2nd Edition
A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Coatings for Food Technology and System".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 4907
Special Issue Editors
Interests: enzyme technology; food biochemistry; future foods; food packaging by active/intelligent coatings; nanocomposites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: food packaging; edible coatings; by-products; microfluidics
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Concern about the environment has increased in recent decades; in particular, due to the non-biodegradable nature of plastic, concern regarding its consumption is growing. Edible films and coatings are an alternative to petroleum-derived plastics. These new materials are designed using natural polymers such as carbohydrates, proteins, oils, etc. and can be developed as films or coatings. Usually, films are prepared using the casting technique, and their mechanical and barrier properties are defined by the composition of the material; a plasticizer can also be added to improve their plasticity. Conversely, coatings are obtained when a film-forming solution is applied to a surface, creating a thin layer that can act as a barrier to protect food. Improving the mechanical and barrier properties of films and coatings is recommended to be able to combine different biopolymers such as proteins and polysaccharides, but also to make a chemical modification of natural proteins or polysaccharides and an enzymatic reticulation between polymer chains. Moreover, edible films and coatings can be considered active or intelligent packaging due to their ability to protect and enhance food shelf-life.
For these considerations, it is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue. The present Special Issue will serve as a continuation of a successful first issue.
The aim of this Special Issue is to present the latest developments in this field through research and review papers. The topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
- New proteins and or polysaccharides with film-forming properties;
- Protein-based films, polysaccharides-based films, lipid-based films, and their mixtures;
- The effect of protein–protein or protein–polysaccharides interactions on film properties;
- Film and coating surface functionalization;
- New plasticizers;
- The stabilization of film-forming solutions for industrial application;
- The methodology to synthesizing nanoparticles from biopolymers and their uses as containers for active compounds;
- Edible films and coatings for food packaging;
- Biopolymers to make active and intelligent packaging;
- Methodologies for making edible/biodegradable films;
- Methodologies for coating food surfaces;
- Biosensors for making intelligent packaging.
Dr. Prospero Di Pierro
Dr. Giovanna Rossi-Marquez
Dr. Cristian Davalos-Saucedo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- edible film and coatings
- nanocomposites
- food shelf life
- active coating
- intelligent coating
- encapsulation
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Authors' names: Boninsegna Miriam Arianna, De Bruno Alessandra, Piscopo Amalia
Abstract: In this study, the influence of conventional and innovative preservation treatments to extend the shelf- life of ready-to-eat clementine (Citrus Clementina) slices were compared, in order to finding an environmental friendly strategy to preserve the quality of these fruits in accordance with the needs of the final consumer in terms of practicality of use and food safety. The experimental plan envisaged both the use of conventional storage technique such as Modified Atmosphere Packaging (O2 5%, CO2 5% and N2 5%) and the use of innovative technique such as edible alginate- based (1,5%) coatings . An uncoated sample without modified atmosphere was used as control. The quality change was observed by evaluating several index qualities such as colour, texture, weight loss, respiration rate, pH, solid soluble content, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity, organic acids, and microbiological contamination during the preservation of ready- to- eat citrus fruits for a period of 20 days at a temperature of 4 ºC. Moreover, a panel of tasters assessed the sensory characteristics. Minimally processed fruits, treated with edible coatings, maintained physical and chemical parameters comparable to the modified atmosphere. In addition, sensory and textural properties were better than the samples stored in MAP. The results suggest that edible coatings could be a sustainable alternative to the use of modified atmosphere to extend the shelf-life of ready-to-eat clementines.
