Fruit packaging with edible chitosan wrappers

With the sharp increase in food safety issues and the lasting effects of the pandemic, consumers are paying more attention to food safety and healthy eating. Plastic waste is a serious environmental problem due to its long degradation period, which is a reason to seek biodegradable alternatives. Multifunctional films based on natural macromolecules are being studied to observe their mechanical properties, degradability, antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Edible film packaging has attracted the attention of manufacturers due to their functions of maintaining the freshness and quality of foods, they are bio-based macromolecules, which contributes to environmental protection and have good mechanical properties, degradability, antibacterial and antioxidant activities. A number of packaging methods have been used to observe the shelf life and changes in fruits, vegetables and local products when covered with packaging film. In our study, we used cherries and packaging made of chitosan and calcium lactate and chitosan and alginate. Edible packaging reduces changes in fruit texture and color during storage at 40 C, with two-layer packaging with chitosan/alginate film performing better.