New Strategies for Food Packaging: Opportunities and Advantages from Natural Products

Dear Colleagues,

The marketing of fresh food such as vegetables and fruits has specific problems compared to that for other foodstuffs, since their physiological activity continues postharvest. The two major problems limiting the long-term storage of fruits are a) pathological breakdown, leading to decay, and b) physiological breakdown, resulting in the appearance of various peel disorders. In the last ten years, research in the food science technology and food engineering field has been directed towards edible coatings, which can fulfil many of the above-mentioned requirements. The food-coating ingredients market showed a CAGR of 6.9% during 2017–2023. Food-coating ingredients are used to improve the taste, texture, flavour and appearance of coated food products, which play a key role in the consumer’s choice.

Plants are an important source of bioactive compounds capable of performing the same functions as some additives used in packaging to increase the shelf life of a food product.

Therefore, this Special Issue will collect research papers and review articles focused on the use of phytochemicals to enhance the mechanical, physical, antimicrobial, anti-browning and antioxidant properties of different packaging solutions. This approach will be useful not only for the extension of the shelf-life of particularly perishable matrices but also for reducing the costs of waste disposal, following the principle of the circular economy, including the extension of the lifecycles of products as much as possible.

We are organizing a Special Issue entitled “New Strategies for Food Packaging: Opportunities and Advantages from Natural Products” in Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049; https://0-www-mdpi-com.brum.beds.ac.uk/journal/molecules).

Prof. Dr. Monica Rosa Loizzo
Dr. Vincenzo Sicari
Guest Editors

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• food packaging
• by-products
• bioactives
• shelf-life extension
• natural product