Nanoparticles from agri-food by-products: Green technology synthesis and application in food packaging

Nanotechnology is a modern scientific field that deals with materials at the nanometric scale. It has emerged as a prominent discipline with diverse applications in everyday life, spanning from the medical field to the food industry. Over the past decade, nanomaterials have proven to be excellent additives for packaging systems, thanks to their unique physicochemical and biological properties. Particularly, agri-food waste-based nanomaterials are both cost-effective and eco-friendly. Agri-food waste and by-products are widely distributed and readily available materials that can be transformed into valuable resources through valorization techniques. This review provides insights into the potential of using agri-food waste and by-products for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles with varying physicochemical and biological properties. The effects of nanoparticles on the properties of packaging systems and health-related issues are also discussed.