UC research team creates edible packaging from agri-food industry waste

^{Translation by Diana Taborda}

A team from the University of Coimbra (UC), in collaboration with the Coimbra Agriculture School (ESAC), has developed a range of edible packaging made from various waste products from the agri-food and fishing industries, a sustainable alternative to plastic.

These edible packages are biodegradable films obtained from the waste of different food products, namely potato and quince peels, fruit that does not meet standard characteristics, and crustacean shells, which, in addition to coating the food and extending its shelf life in the supermarket, can also be eaten.

The packaging, developed by researchers Marisa Gaspar, Mara Braga and Patrícia Almeida Coimbra from the Chemical Process Engineering and Forest Products Research Centre (CIEPQPF) of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), is essentially designed to coat fruit, vegetables and cheese, incorporating in its matrix bioactive/nutraceutical compounds, such as antioxidants and probiotics, with potential health benefits.

This research, which began in 2018 as part of the MultiBiorefinery project funded by COMPETE 2020, has recently received a €20,000 prize from the "Projetos Semente de Investigação Interdisciplinar - Santander UC" (Seed Projects for Interdisciplinary Research - Santander UC) programme, awarded to multidisciplinary teams led by young researchers from the University of Coimbra. It also won a prize in the LL2FRESH ideas competition, which aims to find new packaging solutions, food processing methods and state-of-the-art additives.

The project resulted in a scientific paper published in the journal Food Packaging and Shelf Life, available here.