Fresh fruit and vegetables are vulnerable to water loss. High relative humidity (RH) and free water in plastic packaged products encourage the growth of fungi and bacteria resulting in decay while low RH causes desiccation and changing textural properties, resulting in either decay and reduced shelf life (packaged products) or desiccation and reduced shelf life (unpackaged products).
An increase in the demand and consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables that are better preserved in the postharvest supply chain has created an urgent need for sustainable innovative packaging solutions within circular economy models.
Biodegradable bio-based coatings made of plant materials (bio-coatings) are very promising sustainable solutions to replace the traditional, petroleum-based wax coatings for paper or paper-board. The changed functionality of bio-coated paper and paper-board material will increase material strength and make the materials better suited for packaging of fresh fruit and vegetables and allow recirculation with the paper fraction.
This project aims to develop plastic-free paper-based solutions for fresh fruit and vegetables. With this aim, this project proposes (a) to evaluate the potential use of different biopolymers to develop coatings for paper packaging (b) to evaluate the impact of temperature and RH, combined with the biodegradable coating strategies to extend shelf life, while maintaining product quality (freshness, texture, turgidity). The project has a strong focus on combining:
