Recent Developments in Edible Films and Coatings for Fruits and Vegetables

As a novel post-harvesting strategy, edible films and coatings for fruits and vegetables offer preservation measures to meet the growing needs of hunger and agricultural management. The functionality of edible films and coatings is distinctly the same. However, edible films and coatings differ in their processing and physicomechanical characteristics as they are designed to improve the shelf life, barrier, and nutritional properties of the food. With emerging concerns about sustainability, biomacromolecules have been widely considered in preparing edible films and coatings, which are Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) substances. Biopolymers, including polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, are the main sources of preparing edible films and coatings. These biomacromolecules make stable colloidal dispersions that deliver processing convenience with various formulation, blending, casting, coating, and film-forming methods. Edible films and coating from biopolymers require improvements for their extended performance due to several structural and barrier limitations. Therefore, preparing blends and composites, incorporating target molecules to introduce different functionalities, and designing complex multilayers are among the many recent research approaches developed to overcome those limitations. These recent research approaches ensure enhanced food preservation and extended shelf life, essential requirements of food waste management, with or without minimal influence on the texture, flavor, and nutritional value of food and vegetables. This review focuses on the recent developments in edible films and coatings for fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, this review includes characteristics and functionalities, processing, structural and chemical significance, different sources and their performances, health effects, and recent trends related to edible films and coatings.