Abstract:Responsive food packaging is a major research direction of new food packaging. Unlike traditional packaging, responsive food packaging is incorporated with stimulus-responsive materials that respond to the food itself or external stimuli (e.g., light, temperature, humidity, pH value). When there are changes in the internal or external conditions of food packaging, the packaging material undergoes observable changes in color or internal structure, so that the internal and external changes in the packaging can be visualized or the active substances inside the packaging material are released, thereby realizing the monitoring and improvement of food quality. Based on the domestic and international research progress, this paper classifies stimuli-responsive food packaging into four categories according to the type of stimuli: physically responsive type (light, temperature, humidity), chemically responsive type (pH value, volatile sulfide), biological impact type (microorganisms and enzymes), and multi-responsive type. Moreover, the research advances of different kinds of responsive food packaging are also presented. Finally, this paper analyzes comprehensively the problems and challenges faced by the responsive food packaging during industrial manufacturing from production, marketing, safety and other aspects o, as well as the development potential of responsive food packaging in the future.
