A Review on Approaches of Edible Coating as Potential Packaging for Meat, Poultry and Seafood

Abstract

The World population is increasing continuously and to fulfil the requirement of future generation food supply needs to be increased. Food availability and accessibility can be increased by increasing production, improving distribution, and reducing the losses. To achieve the goal of improving the quality of food products, the use of synthetic packaging films has increased and this has led to serious ecological problems due to their non-biodegradability. Amongst other alternatives to replace the use of synthetic packaging, the application of biodegradable films and coatings has shown promising results. The aim of this article is to update the information about the effects of polysaccharide, protein and lipid-based coatings, and antimicrobial and composite coatings on meat products. In the future, this data will be helpful for the processors to select the best coating material which can enhance the quality of different fresh, processed and frozen meat, poultry and seafood.