ABSTRACT

Consumer interest in health, nutrition, and food safety combined with environmental concerns have renewed efforts in edible coating research. Renewable and abundant resources are available for use as film-forming agents that could potentially reduce the need for synthetic packaging films that add to waste-disposal problems. Alternatives to petroleum-based packaging include naturally occurring lipid, resin, protein, and carbohydrate film formers and their derivatives. In fact, coating techniques had been in use for centuries, before the development of plastic polymers. For example, beeswax was used to coat citrus fruit to retard water loss in China during the 12th and 13th centuries [1], and “larding” (coating food with fat) to prevent desiccation was practiced in 16th-century England [2]. The use of synthetic and natural waxes and resins to coat fresh fruits and vegetables has been researched and practiced in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia since the 1930s [3–9]. Development of edible coatings for use on meat products was first reported in the late 1950s [10–14].