A team of scientists from the University of Alicante in Spain claims to have developed a food packaging material from pineapple waste that can increase shelf life. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop an edible film. Researchers are also investigating the material’s aroma-enhancing properties.
The group of researchers from the University of Alicante Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Sciences has been working since the end of 2021 on the development of natural bio-aromas to increase the shelf life of fresh food and reduce food waste. The goal is to achieve new sustainable plastic materials of natural origin that, obtained from pineapple waste, both from the core and the rind, have synergistic natural active systems with dual action.
In this line, the researchers have achieved the first result of the project: a new material containing active natural compounds with antioxidant capacity. The plastic material not only has the capacity to be a container, but also to interact with the food it stores and to increase its capacity for preservation, thereby increasing its shelf life.
Source: packagingeurope.com