The rise of electrospinning technology: moving forward to the development, production, and application of food packaging

Environmental pollution caused by conventional food packaging has become a growing concern, as most packaging materials are still plastic based. Current research is focused on developing sustainable alternatives and designing functional packaging systems. However, functional ingredients are usually thermally unstable, and the heating step commonly involved in film preparation can compromise their stability. Electrospinning has attracted increasing attention as a non-thermal processing technique for food packaging applications. This review compares and highlights the different sustainable material used in food packaging electrospun fibrous films including an overview of applications in food packaging and a review of electrospun films categorized by their functional performance. Overall, proteins, polysaccharides, and their complexes are promising sustainable candidates for electrospun fibrous film fabrication. With the incorporation of functional ingredients, electrospun fibrous films can be designed with added functionalities, including antibacterial and antioxidant activity as well as freshness indication. Moreover, their high specific surface area and porous structure can support prolonged food preservation. Nevertheless, further work is still required to enable large-scale production and to improve physical performance, which will be essential for advancing electrospun packaging toward practical use.