Nanofilms for Enhancing the Shelf-life of Harvested Products

Abstract

Ensuring global food security is a highly challenging aspect due to rapid population growth, minimum productivity of the agricultural sector, poor resource utilization, higher post-harvest losses and less value addition. Among these factors, higher post-harvest losses of fresh products are a severe issue directly related to the deterioration of harvested agricultural produce. Hence, scientists are seeking novel technologies to enhance the shelf-life of these harvested products and try to narrow the food demand gap to a considerable level. Though different conventional strategies are available to enhance the preservation duration, incorporating nanotechnology-related edible films is a newer strategy to uplift the shelf-life of highly perishable food products. Various edible nanofilms are being produced and used to preserve fresh agricultural products, including fruits and vegetables, mushrooms and cut flowers. Therefore, this book chapter discusses the current scenario of post-harvest losses for food security, the effective use of nanofilms as coatings and packing material, the working principle of nanofilms in food preservation and future aspects of nanofilms as a shelf-life extension strategy. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Swarnendu Roy and Akbar Hossain; individual chapters, the contributors.