Anthocyanin (ATH) and curcumin (CR) are non-toxic and harmless natural pigments with excellent pH-sensitive properties and antioxidant properties. They are often used as packaging components to monitor food quality.
Natural Indicator For Food Packaging
With the prolonged storage time, food is prone to spoilage under the action of microorganisms, which leads to pH changes in the packaging system. Adding pH indicators to the packaging can sense the changes in food quality, and consumers can know without opening the packaging. Information on food quality. In smart packaging, the indicators now used to indicate the freshness of food are mainly divided into chemical indicators and natural indicators. It is very important to use natural and non-toxic indicators to monitor the freshness of food. Commonly used natural indicators are mainly anthocyanin and curcumin.
Anthocyanin And Curcumin Mixed-Use
At present, many studies at home and abroad have applied anthocyanin, curcumin and other pigments to food packaging, and the film properties obtained are often better than single pigments.
Curcumin's antioxidant, antibacterial and discoloration properties under alkaline conditions make it popular in food packaging. Its excellent biological activity allows curcumin to be added to food packaging as a functional substance. For protein foods, smart packaging films containing curcumin can be used to package them, to feedback the food's freshness.
Anthocyanin-rich biopolymer films have various functionalities, such as antibacterial, antioxidative, degradable, indicating, etc. These features extend the shelf life of food while maintaining food quality and safety, and reduce the environmental impact of packaging materials.
Anthocyanins and curcumin have the characteristics of antioxidant, natural pollution-free and so on. Compared with chemically synthesized pigments, they have greater advantages in food packaging as freshness indicators, which can better ensure food safety.
Application Limitations
Anthocyanins and curcumin as natural pigments have many advantages in food packaging, but they also have certain limitations. Anthocyanins are unstable in nature and are easily affected by factors such as temperature, light, and pH. However, curcumin has a small discoloration range and cannot be used as a freshness indicator to monitor the entire shelf life of food.