Bioactive Packaging Solutions

About

A) Background and Problems In the context of a constantly growing population and globalization of markets, prevention of microbial contamination by harmful bacteria or viruses, is becoming increasingly important. Foodborne diseases are responsible for numerous illnesses and deaths each year around the world. In order to combat contamination, commercial food products are typically loaded with preservatives to allow them to remain fresh during the long span between the time of manufacture and the time the customer finishes using it. Although the preservatives do extend the longevity of the products and help keep them free from bacteria, yeast and mold. the preservatives themselves are often unhealthy. Most of the preservatives used in food industries are synthetic chemicals named benzoates, sorbates and parabens. These synthetic preservatives have long health implications like cancer when consumed on a daily basis. This has led EnCap BioTech to develop novel microencapsulated composite/additives (based on cellulose micro/nano materials and other polymers) that will provide antimicrobial/antioxidant activity and can be used for bioactive packaging applications. EnCap BioTech’s clean label microencapsulation platform is based on green chemical processing/technology such as coacervation, ionotropic gelation, and polyelectrolyte complex formation. The choice of biopolymers is an important step for the success of the microencapsulation processes. To achieve our objectives, we only use a combination of commercially available biopolymers such as, alginate, chitosan, starch (cationic or anionic depending on active compounds), guar gum and cellulose micro/nano materials. B) Technology We are currently developing:  Cellulose micro/nano materials-based composite for edible/biodegradable packaging.  Clean label microencapsulated formulation (with micro/nano cellulose) that can be used as an additive in paper-based packaging materials. The formulation can either be added at the wet-end or coated on the surface of the paper.