Santos Maryana Rogéria Dos, Durval Italo José Batista, Medeiros Alexandre D'Lamare Maia de, Silva Júnior Cláudio José Galdino da, Converti Attilio, Costa Andréa Fernanda de Santana, Sarubbo Leonie Asfora
Rede Nordeste de Biotecnologia (RENORBIO), Universidade Federal Rural Pernambuco (UFRPE), Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n-Dois Irmãos, Recife 52171-900, Brazil.
Instituto Avançado de Tecnologia e Inovação (IATI), Rua Potyra, n. 31, Prado, Recife 50751-310, Brazil.
Foods. 2024 Oct 20;13(20):3327. doi: 10.3390/foods13203327.
Food packaging, which is typically made of paper/cardboard, glass, metal, and plastic, is essential for protecting and preserving food. However, the impact of conventional food packaging and especially the predominant use of plastics, due to their versatility and low cost, bring serious environmental and health problems such as pollution by micro and nanoplastics. In response to these challenges, biotechnology emerges as a new way for improving packaging by providing biopolymers as sustainable alternatives. In this context, bacterial cellulose (BC), a biodegradable and biocompatible material produced by bacteria, stands out for its mechanical resistance, food preservation capacity, and rapid degradation and is a promising solution for replacing plastics. However, despite its advantages, large-scale application still encounters technical and economic challenges. These include high costs compared to when conventional materials are used, difficulties in standardizing membrane production through microbial methods, and challenges in optimizing cultivation and production processes, so further studies are necessary to ensure food safety and industrial viability. Thus, this review provides an overview of the impacts of conventional packaging. It discusses the development of biodegradable packaging, highlighting BC as a promising biopolymer. Additionally, it explores biotechnological techniques for the development of innovative packaging through structural modifications of BC, as well as ways to optimize its production process. The study also emphasizes the importance of these solutions in promoting a circular economy within the food industry and reducing its environmental impact.
食品包装通常由纸/纸板、玻璃、金属和塑料制成，对于保护和保存食品至关重要。然而，传统食品包装的影响，尤其是塑料的大量使用，由于其多功能性和低成本，带来了严重的环境和健康问题，如微塑料和纳米塑料污染。为应对这些挑战，生物技术作为一种新的方式出现，通过提供生物聚合物作为可持续替代品来改进包装。在这种背景下，细菌纤维素（BC）作为一种由细菌产生的可生物降解和生物相容的材料，因其机械抗性、食品保鲜能力和快速降解而脱颖而出，是替代塑料的一个有前途的解决方案。然而，尽管它有优点，但大规模应用仍面临技术和经济挑战。这些挑战包括与使用传统材料相比成本高昂、通过微生物方法标准化膜生产存在困难以及优化培养和生产过程面临挑战，因此需要进一步研究以确保食品安全和工业可行性。因此，本综述概述了传统包装的影响。它讨论了可生物降解包装的发展，突出了BC作为一种有前途的生物聚合物。此外，它探索了通过对BC进行结构修饰来开发创新包装的生物技术，以及优化其生产过程的方法。该研究还强调了这些解决方案在促进食品行业循环经济和减少其环境影响方面的重要性。
