Antimicrobial peptides and their application in food packaging

Food safety and spoilage prevention are the main concerns in the food packaging industry. Microbial contamination is one of the biggest causes of food deterioration and may occur immediately after harvesting. Therefore, there is an increased demand for antimicrobial food packaging. Active packaging carries active compounds, such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), encapsulating them in various nanocarriers to ensure their controlled release for food preservation during storage. AMPs have gained increased attention in recent years as potential ingredients in packaging, as they demonstrate a broad range of antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities against foodborne pathogens and infectious bacteria. This review will describe AMPs and their use in the food packaging industry along with their characteristics, functions, properties, types, and mechanisms of action in active food packaging systems. The encapsulation of AMPs is also highlighted. AMPs have potential applications in the food packaging industry. They are used in very small amounts and can exert notable effects against microbial growth and contamination. They also reduce lipid oxidation in various meat products. Moreover, active packaging is a promising technique to incorporate carry microcapsules and nano-encapsulated structures with AMPs as the core to ensure their sustained release upon various triggers. These characteristics depend on the type of AMPs and their effectiveness. Various strategies can be developed to enable cost-effective and efficient AMP encapsulation techniques. There is a great need to evaluate and utilize the potential of AMPs improved food preservation.