Films and coatings: migration of ingredients

Abstract

Edible films and coatings can be used as an emergent technology to lengthen the shelf life of different food products because they can retard the migration of moisture or fat/oil and the gas (O2 , CO2 ) or solute transport, improve the mechanical properties or structural integrity of food, improve food flavor retention, and support food additives or nutrients. For their formulation, the use of hydrocolloids is required (i.e., polysaccharides or proteins), which allow to obtain a continuous biopolymeric tridimensional structure and a plasticizer (i.e., glycerol, sorbitol), which provides flexibility to that structure. In this chapter, the migration of antimicrobials, antioxidants, and plasticizers is analyzed with the purpose of the evaluation of the effect of this phenomenon on the performance of these edible matrices.