Sustainable, High Barrier Smart Packaging Films for Shelf-Life Extension of Edible Oils

Smart packaging is revolutionizing the food industry by extending shelf life and enhancing quality, thus ensuring food safety and sustainability. This study presents innovative multilayer flexible packaging films to tackle the environmental challenges of single-use plastics and nonrecyclable metalized multilayer films. The fabricated films comprise three layers made up of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(vinyl alcohol)/natural rubber latex, and PLA/Sepiolite clay from inner to outer, respectively, where the active middle layer provides oxygen-scavenging activity. The findings indicate that developed films can effectively increase the shelf life of foods, such as Palm oil, showing no visible color change and significant improvement in peroxide value (PV) and p-anisidine values (p-AV) after 30 days of storage study. As per the Shaal oven test, it extends Palm oil's shelf life to more than 3 years. Furthermore, the multilayer structure enhances mechanical and barrier properties and reduces oxygen transfer by 99% and water vapor permeability by over 50-fold compared to neat PLA while promoting degradability. With lower environmental impacts, these films can be composted or degraded naturally. This green and biodegradable packaging strategy offers a promising solution to reduce food waste, contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and fostering a circular economy.