《Active%20Packaging%20-%20Antioxydant%20Capacity》.pdfVIP

ACTIVE PACKAGING - ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY Introduction Our lunches are more often eaten “on the run” and quite a number of full time workers choose not to leave their desks for lunch at all. Younger people generally rely on take-home or on-the-go meal solutions. And many if not most, of the consumers prefer conveniently packaged food that can be quickly made into meals without sacrificing the food’s quality. One observes an increasing demand for microwavable products, zippered pouches and ready-to-eat salad kits. Moreover, consumers expect to be informed about the origin, processing, properties and safety of the packed food. Food and beverage packagings have conceptually been defined as passive barriers that delay the adverse effects of the environment on the packed food products. Today, it is obvious that optimal passive packaging solutions result in initial quality and shelf life that are below the ones considered desirable. Their status quo is challenged by active packaging systems. Active packaging has been variously classified in the literature by a number of differing definitions [Rooney 1995; Day 2003; Robertson 2006]. Obviously, intensive research efforts to develop packaging materials that interact actively with their environment and/or with the packed food have resulted in an explosive growth of active as well as intelligent packaging systems. They are designed to prolong the shelf life of the packed y t food items and beverages as well as to improve their safety and organoleptic i