Eco-Friendly Hybrid Packaging: Multifunctional Wrinkle Films with Active and Intelligent Features

Food safety concerns arising from undetected food spoilage pose a significant risk to consumer health and well-being. Concurrently, the extensive utilization of nonbiodegradable petroleum-based plastic packaging films contributes to environmental degradation. Therefore, it is important to develop biodegradable food packaging materials endowed with active and intelligent functionalities for mitigating food wastage and safeguarding food integrity. This study focused on the synthesis of anthocyanin-curcumin-tannic acid nanoparticles (ACT NPs) through metal ion coordination and multiple hydrogen bonds to enhance the stability of active substances. Additionally, oxidized bacterial cellulose (OBC) was employed to improve the mechanical properties and biocompatibility of KCOA film. Drawing inspiration from self-wrinkling biomaterials, a sustainable multifunctional wrinkle-structured food packaging film was fabricated using the solution casting method. The resulting KCOA film exhibited exceptional attributes, including mechanical strength, reduced gas permeability, water resistance, ultraviolet-blocking capability, degradability, antioxidative properties, antimicrobial activity, and pH responsiveness. In pork preservation trials, the film considerably prolonged the shelf life of products while enabling the real-time monitoring of spoilage. This study presents a novel methodology for producing sustainable multifunctional wrinkle-structured films and underscores their potential as versatile packaging materials for concurrent food preservation and freshness monitoring.