Cagri Arzu, Ustunol Zeynep, Ryser Elliot T
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, 2108 South Anthony Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1225, USA.
J Food Prot. 2004 Apr;67(4):833-48. doi: 10.4315/0362-028x-67.4.833.
Increasing consumer demand for microbiologically safer foods, greater convenience, smaller packages, and longer product shelf life is forcing the industry to develop new food-processing, cooking, handling, and packaging strategies. Nonfluid ready-to-eat foods are frequently exposed to postprocess surface contamination, leading to a reduction in shelf life. The food industry has at its disposal a wide range of nonedible polypropylene- and polyethylene-based packaging materials and various biodegradable protein- and polysaccharide-based edible films that can potentially serve as packaging materials. Research on the use of edible films as packaging materials continues because of the potential for these films to enhance food quality, food safety, and product shelf life. Besides acting as a barrier against mass diffusion (moisture, gases, and volatiles), edible films can serve as carriers for a wide range of food additives, including flavoring agents, antioxidants, vitamins, and colorants. When antimicrobial agents such as benzoic acid, sorbic acid, propionic acid, lactic acid, nisin, and lysozyme have been incorporated into edible films, such films retarded surface growth of bacteria, yeasts, and molds on a wide range of products, including meats and cheeses. Various antimicrobial edible films have been developed to minimize growth of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, including Listeria monocytogenes, which may contaminate the surface of cooked ready-to-eat foods after processing. Here, we review the various types of protein-based (wheat gluten, collagen, corn zein, soy, casein, and whey protein), polysaccharide-based (cellulose, chitosan, alginate, starch, pectin, and dextrin), and lipid-based (waxes, acylglycerols, and fatty acids) edible films and a wide range of antimicrobial agents that have been or could potentially be incorporated into such films during manufacture to enhance the safety and shelf life of ready-to-eat foods.
消费者对微生物安全性更高的食品、更大的便利性、更小的包装以及更长的产品保质期的需求不断增加，这迫使食品行业开发新的食品加工、烹饪、处理和包装策略。即食非流体食品经常受到加工后表面污染，导致保质期缩短。食品行业可以使用多种基于聚丙烯和聚乙烯的不可食用包装材料，以及各种基于蛋白质和多糖的可生物降解可食用薄膜，这些薄膜有可能用作包装材料。由于这些薄膜有提高食品质量、食品安全和产品保质期的潜力，因此对其作为包装材料的研究仍在继续。除了作为防止质量扩散（水分、气体和挥发物）的屏障外，可食用薄膜还可以作为多种食品添加剂的载体，包括调味剂、抗氧化剂、维生素和色素。当将苯甲酸、山梨酸、丙酸、乳酸、乳链菌肽和溶菌酶等抗菌剂加入可食用薄膜中时，此类薄膜可抑制包括肉类和奶酪在内的多种产品表面细菌、酵母和霉菌的生长。人们已经开发出各种抗菌可食用薄膜，以尽量减少腐败微生物和致病微生物的生长，包括单核细胞增生李斯特菌，这种细菌可能会在加工后污染即食熟食品的表面。在此，我们综述了各种类型的基于蛋白质（小麦面筋、胶原蛋白、玉米醇溶蛋白、大豆、酪蛋白和乳清蛋白）、多糖（纤维素、壳聚糖、藻酸盐、淀粉、果胶和糊精）和脂质（蜡、酰基甘油和脂肪酸）的可食用薄膜，以及在制造过程中已被或可能被加入此类薄膜以提高即食食品安全性和保质期的多种抗菌剂。
