Nanoemulsions based edible coatings with potential food applications

Abstract

With the advancement in the technologies and globalization, people are now focusing more on healthy products such as fruits, vegetables having good nutrition capability with enhanced shelf life. The edible coating is one such technique that can be used to enhance the shelf life of fruits, vegetables, and other food products. Various types of edible coatings such as protein based, lipid based, pectin based, and chitosan based are used in food products. However, edible coatings sometimes provide unpleasant flavor and toxicity to the food products. Thus, to overcome this problem newly developed design of active edible coatings to encapsulate the lipophilic active compounds in the form of nanoemulsions plays a vital role in increasing the functionality of the food product and acts as a newer approach in edible packaging. Many active ingredients are used to preserve the quality and provide nutritional benefits to food products such as antimicrobial activity by nanoemulsions containing essential oils. Therefore, the major aim of this review is to study and highlight the newer alternative approach of using nanoemulsions based edible coatings in food products. It also emphasizes on the recent advances for improving the quality and shelf life of food products.