Electrospining: Application of plant protein-based nanofibers in food packaging

Background

In today’s world, technology has taken deep roots in every sector including agriculture and food production. Many scientific breakthroughs have been achieved in increasing productivity in various sectors of the food industry while focusing on improving food quality and ensuring safety. Despite this, one of the major hurdles remains the vigilant monitoring of food quality and safety parameters. Assessing changes or deterioration in food quality includes a range of indicators such as microbiological levels, pH fluctuations, presence of plant or microbial toxins, presence of heavy metals, and residues of pesticides and herbicides.

The main point of this paper

Overview of electrospinning technology:

Electrospinning is a versatile and scalable technology for producing nano- to micron-sized polymer fibers with high surface-to-volume ratios, adjustable morphology, and excellent mechanical properties.

Technical advantages:

Electrospinning technology is widely used in medical, food preservation, energy harvesting, etc. due to its simplicity, scalability, consistency, versatility, and economy.

Properties of nanofibers:

Nanofibers have great potential in rapid detection technology due to their rough surface and high porosity, and can be used to design electrospinning scaffolds with different configurations.

Polymer selection:

Electrospinning technology can make fibers from a wide range of synthetic and natural substances, including more than 100 organic polymers, covering natural and synthetic variants.

Synthetic and natural polymers:

Synthetic polymers have strong mechanical properties and versatility, but there are environmental pollution and biocompatibility issues. Natural polymers (biopolymers) are favored for their biodegradability, non-toxicity, and good biocompatibility.

Application of plant protein:

Plant protein, as a structure-forming polymer, has been widely studied in commercial applications, especially in terms of sustainability and environmental impact.

Electrospun plant protein nanofibers: a sustainable solution for food packaging

Application Challenges of EPPNFs:

The challenges of implementing EPPNFs in food and food packaging applications, including potential safety and scalability issues, are highlighted.

Industry Trends:

The production of plant protein nanofibers and microfibers is likely to increase in the future due to the increasing demand for more sustainable, renewable and environmentally friendly biopolymers.

Potential Applications of EPPNFs:

EPPNFs are expected to find more and more applications in areas such as active food packaging and drug delivery.

Importance of Sustainable Development:

Many industries are seeking to replace synthetic materials with biopolymers to reduce environmental pollution and improve sustainability.

Future Outlook of EPPNFs:

With technological advances and increased attention to environmental impact, EPPNFs have broad prospects for application in the food industry, especially in environmentally friendly packaging and smart packaging systems.

Summarize

Electrospinning is a versatile method for preparing micro- or nanoscale fibers that can be used as food packaging materials. Electrospun fibers have a high surface-to-volume ratio, tunable surface properties, good mechanical strength, and high porosity, which are beneficial for food packaging applications. The morphology and functionality of electrospun fibers can be tailored for specific applications by varying the polymer solution composition and electrospinning process parameters. Coaxial electrospinning can be used to create core-shell structures. The ability of multi-nozzle electrospinning to increase productivity has been studied. Electrospun fibers can be produced from plant proteins, but they usually have to be combined with other polymers, which may be natural or synthetic. These plant-based electrospun fibers can be designed to have good biodegradability, biocompatibility, and sustainability. This technology has a wide range of potential applications in the food industry, including encapsulation of active agents, fabrication of filters, production of packaging materials, fabrication of cultured meat scaffolds, and creation of texture modifiers. However, much research is still needed to form plant-based electrospun fibers with desired technical functional attributes, as well as to create scalable manufacturing processes for commercial applications.