{"id":223203,"date":"2016-08-23T14:45:06","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T17:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/?p=223203"},"modified":"2016-08-24T15:41:47","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T18:41:47","slug":"green-packaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/green-packaging\/","title":{"rendered":"Green packaging"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Guava

L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Guava alongside edible plastic made with substances extracted from the fruit\u2019s pulp and rindL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

An imagined future with edible plastic packaging that can be incorporated into soups and juices without ill health effects is not a far cry from reality. New possibilities for food storage that avoid post-consumption packaging waste and also add nutrients to consumers\u2019 diets are being developed experimentally in laboratories at universities and research centers. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) is studying new materials that can be turned into packaging or even food ingredients. These bioplastics or biopolymers, as researchers call them, can also be incorporated into biodegradable packaging. \u201cThese materials have the nutritional properties, flavor and color of produce, or they can be transparent, filmy, and look like ordinary plastics,\u201d explains Luiz Henrique Capparelli Mattoso, a researcher at Embrapa\u2019s Agricultural Instrumentation Division in S\u00e3o Carlos, state of S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

These bioplastics are made from fresh foods or from wastes derived from juice-making or other industrial processes. Compounds such as polysaccharides, considered to be natural polymers, are extracted from these raw materials. Like the plastics produced from petroleum byproducts, they are made of macromolecules of long-chain carbohydrates. Most biopolymers are also biodegradable, so packaging materials not intended to be brought to the table can decompose naturally in the garbage in a few days or weeks. Mattoso, who has studied these materials for the past 20 years, sees degradable and edible bioplastics as an answer to the environmental impact caused by synthetic plastic. \u201cReducing the amount of synthetic plastic packaging in dumps and landfills is a necessity,\u201d he says. The new materials offer the same versatility as traditional plastics, opening up an unlimited range of uses and possible formulations for packaging and functional foods.<\/p>\n

The edible plastics being developed by Mattoso\u2019s group were first created eight years ago in connection with the Network of Nanotechnology Applied to Agribusiness (AgroNano). The members of the network are researchers from companies and a number of research institutions, and include Professor M\u00e1rcia Aouada of S\u00e3o Paulo State University (Unesp) in Ilha Solteira, researcher Henriette Monteiro Cordeiro de Azeredo of Embrapa\u2019s Tropical Agroindustry Division in Fortaleza, state of Cear\u00e1, and Tara McHugh of the Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. The plastic films are basically made from certain types of polysaccharides such as starch, pectin and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. These components are extracted, for example, from the pulp and rind of fruits such as guava, papaya, passion fruit, banana, a\u00e7a\u00ed, kiwi and peach, or from legumes such as beets and carrots. The applications are numerous. Edible or biodegradable, they could be used to wrap several types of food, including animal feed.<\/p>\n

\"Bioplastic

L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Bioplastic made from a\u00e7a\u00ed and nanoparticles of chitosan, a substance that has a bactericidal effectL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

One as-yet-unresolved issue is the potential risk that the biopolymer could attract animals while in storage or on supermarket shelves. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if it would attract mice or cockroaches. We haven\u2019t done any specific testing, but we haven\u2019t ever had that problem in all the years of our research,\u201d Mattoso says. Any potential contamination of the packaging by bacteria or other impurities could be resolved, the researcher says, by adding substances such as chitosan, cinnamon or propolis, which has a bactericidal effect. \u201cAnother solution would be to use an outer packaging material that is biodegradable but not edible, to package some foods consumed in natura,\u201d<\/em> he explains. Biopolymers can be washed with non-soapy water.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican colleagues, such as Tara McHugh, are now working with edible films that could be used in Japanese restaurants,\u201d he notes. \u201cSome customers are allergic to the algae used to wrap a type of sushi. The films can be used as a substitute, without any loss of flavor or food quality.\u201d The researcher lets his imagination fly on the new possibilities that biopolymers bring to the food industry. \u201cIt\u2019s possible to produce plastics with the flavor of any seasoning and add it to food.\u201d A chicken could be wrapped with a type of bioplastic containing molecules that would have the proper seasoning for the food. \u201cWhen you put it in the oven, the water in the meat evaporates and solubilizes the film, breaking it up and seasoning the food as it cooks,\u201d he explains. The advantage of seasoning-infused packaging is that it can be used as food rather than be discarded. Some packaging materials could also be liquefied in a blender to make juices. \u201cIt is possible to work with new food concepts,\u201d Mattoso says. His research on edible plastics in S\u00e3o Carlos over the past eight years has received R$200,000 in funding from Embrapa, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and FAPESP.<\/p>\n

Pomegranate ravioli<\/strong>
\nIn Fortaleza, Azeredo developed an edible plastic from pectin, pomegranate juice, citric acid and glycerol, a substance that can be a byproduct of vegetable oil processing. \u201cIt has good mechanical properties, and the color and taste of pomegranate,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe created the product so it could be ingested with food.\u201d According to Azeredo, the idea of developing the film came up in 2014, when she spent time as a visiting researcher in Norwich, England, through the Embrapa Labex program, which promotes scientific cooperation with institutions in other countries. \u201cPomegranate is greatly enjoyed and consumed in England, and I knew it had market appeal because of the health benefits conferred by its alleged antioxidant properties,\u201d she explains. \u201cI thought it would be interesting to make use of the attractive color of the fruit pulp to incorporate it into a biopolymer.\u201d The research was conducted in 2014, but Azeredo has been working with edible and biodegradable plastics since 2007.<\/p>\n

\"Edible

L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Edible plastics developed at EmbrapaL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

On the subject of applications, Azeredo says that the film developed in England, like similar ones created by Mattoso, could also be used by restaurants to wrap sushi, or to make appetizer pastries or transparent raviolis\u2014small meat-filled pockets, for consumption or even for decorative effect at meals. \u201cThe product could also be marketed in powder form, and then dissolved in water as a coating for fruit,\u201d he explains. \u201cFor this application, the bioplastics would be immersed in liquid, removed and then dried to form a film.\u201d According to Azeredo, the dried film would act as a protective barrier\u2014a kind of thin skin that would reduce permeability to gases and moisture\u2014and help increase food stability.<\/p>\n

Another possible application is the production of fruit ribbons in the vein of Fruit by the Foot, a snack sold in the United States, that would take the form of gummy strips rolled up and packaged like adhesive tape. They are bioplastics made of fruit with added vitamins. \u201cIn the United States there is a company that makes films from the pulp of various fruits and vegetables and sells them to consumers for preparing sushi rolls or wraps in several flavors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Developing a film that prevents oxidation in cut-up fruit is the goal of the research group led by Professor Florencia Cec\u00edlia Menegalli of the School of Food Engineering at the University of Campinas (Unicamp). She and her doctoral student Tanara Sartori use starch from green plantains as a raw material for films that preserve cut-up fruit. To this material they added lipid microparticles (a mixture of fatty acids) containing vitamin C, an antioxidant. \u201cEarlier we had used banana starch to develop biodegradable packaging. Now we\u2019ve opted for a packaging material activated by adding the antioxidant to the formula,\u201d Sartori explains. First, they needed to encapsulate those substances in order to incorporate them into the film. \u201cEncapsulating the antioxidant in the microparticles is important for maintaining controlled release of the substance during storage, to preserve the product before it reaches the end consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Production

L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Production phase of edible plastic made from strawberries, for use in packagingL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Microparticles are also used in the coating, a viscous liquid in which the fruit to be protected must be immersed. They are immediately removed to be dried for several minutes, and a protective film then forms over the fruit pieces. According to Sartori, research findings not yet published point to a preservative effect on the color of apples, even when cut in half, when coated with film having antioxidant properties.<\/p>\n

The steps needed to bring these products to market will depend on a number of factors. In the past decade, Henriette Azeredo of Embrapa developed a film based on mango pulp, to which were added cellulose nanofibers obtained from cotton fiber (see Pesquisa FAPESP <\/em>Issue n\u00ba 176<\/a>), but it didn\u2019t generate any patents or a commercial product. \u201cAt the time, several companies contacted me, but none was interested in bringing the technology to market,\u201d she says. \u201cThe films have not yet been produced on an industrial scale. There were no scale-up studies, so their cost is only an estimate and is thought to be high. For that reason, it\u2019s hard for them to compete with synthetic plastics,\u201d comments Professor Paulo Sobral of the School of Animal Science and Food Engineering at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), Pirassununga campus. \u201cThe use of processing waste could reduce the end price of the bioplastic, but the figure is very hard to quantify because it depends on the formulation, scale and type of biopolymer,\u201d Mattoso says.<\/p>\n

The research projects conducted by the three groups have generated recent papers published in scientific journals. The films that are closest to becoming commercial products are the ones created by Mattoso. \u201cWe\u2019ve already done the proof of concept, and developed several packaging formulations and a pilot-scale production process,\u201d he says. So far, seven companies interested in the edible films have contacted Embrapa. \u201cWe\u2019re in negotiations with some of them. As soon as we come to terms with a company and sign a partnership agreement, we\u2019ll start adjusting the formulation and develop the final product,\u201d Mattoso says.<\/p>\n

Project<\/strong>
\nStudy and optimization of natural fiber-reinforced edible polymer biocomposites formulated with fruit and vegetable processing wastes (n\u00ba 2014\/23098-9<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong>\u00a0Scholarships in Brazil \u2013 Regular \u2013 Fast-track Doctorate; Recipient<\/strong>\u00a0Caio Gomide Otoni (Embrapa); Principal Investigator<\/strong>\u00a0Luiz Henrique Capparelli Mattoso (Embrapa); Investment<\/strong>\u00a0R$92,264.64.<\/p>\n

Scientific articles<\/em>
\nSARTORI, T. et al<\/em>. Development and characterization of unripe banana starch films incorporated with solid lipid microparticles containing ascorbic acid<\/a>. Food Hydrocolloids<\/strong>. V. 55, p. 210-19. April 2016.
\nAZEREDO, H. M. C. et al.<\/em> Development of pectin films with pomegranate juice and citric acid<\/a>. Food Chemistry<\/strong>. V. 198, p. 101-6. May 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fruits and vegetables are raw material for edible plastics that protect food ","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[169],"tags":[211,212,259,243],"coauthors":[112],"class_list":["post-223203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-biochemistry","tag-biotechnology","tag-chemistry","tag-innovation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223203"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=223203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}