Bio2Coat

The interest in reducing dependence on oil and an increasing global awareness of the environment serve as a stimulus for the search for alternatives to conventional plastics obtained from fossil sources. One of these alternatives is the use of packaging made of polymers obtained from fully-renewable sources, which can be simultaneously biodegradable and edible.
Data published in 2019 show alarming figures for food loss: 33% of all food produced globally is lost or wasted every year, being 45% of root crops, fruits and vegetables. The 25% of the food wasted globally could feed 795 million undernourished people in the world. The use of edible coatings and films can help minimize these losses. Edible coatings are considered a semi permeable layer, which can be applied to food products, promoting the effect of a passive modified atmosphere, thus contributing to extend the shelf life of product, this technology reduce transpiration and respiration rates of the fruits and improve the visual aspect and avoid fungi attack. Basically, they are composed by natural macromolecules, plasticizing agents, pH adjusters, solvents and additives that can promote several functions like antimicrobial effect, antioxidant effect, flavour release and others. These edible coatings help to further food conservation, through reduction of mass transfer (i.e. gas, vapors, lipids, etc.) and they do not produce residues neither cause negative effects on the environment, therefore they are a fully sustainable technology. The application of edible coatings to fruits has been pointed out as a low-cost technique and therefore, feasible for use by local farmers, small agro-industry and even consumers, because it uses simple technology and does not require high investment in equipment.
In this context, the technology of our project consists of development and production of edible coatings based on polymers obtained from fully-renewable sources applied to the extension of shelf-life of food in general. These coatings may have bioactive compounds can extended shelf life of fruits and vegetables (e.g. strawberries, cherries, grapes) as well as to produce functional packaging for food, either processed or not.
The technology of edible materials for food packaging will have a relevant environmental-socio-economic impact derived from a drastic plastic reduction while guaranteeing high-quality food products for the consumer.