Eco-friendly food packaging material doubles shelf life of food products
This novel food packaging material can slow down fungal growth, doubling the shelf life of perishable foods.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) developed an environmentally-friendly food packaging material that is free from chemical additives, by fortifying natural chitosan-based composite film with grapefruit seed extract (GFSE). This novel food packaging material can slow down fungal growth, doubling the shelf life of perishable foods.
Chitosan, a natural and biodegradable polymer derived from the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans, has immense potential for applications in food technology, owing to its biocompatibility, non-toxicity, short time biodegradability and excellent film-forming ability. Chitosan also has inherent antimicrobial and antifungal properties. GFSE, on the other hand, is an antioxidant and possesses strong antiseptic, germicidal, anti-bacterial, fungicidal and anti-viral properties.