The development of edible films and coatings from food-grade biopolymers has advanced significantly during the past decade. The current state-of-the-art lies in the formulation of composite edible films and coatings from such biomolecules. Composite films and coatings refer to systems where multiple biopolymers have been combined to achieve beneficial properties. Carbohydrate, protein, and lipids have been preferred for developing such systems. Binary films and coatings have been prepared from multiple combinations including protein-protein, carbohydrate-carbohydrate and protein-carbohydrate. Similarly, ternary films and coatings have been prepared from protein-protein-carbohydrate combinations. In addition, several active ingredients including antimicrobial compounds have been loaded to these systems for the preparation of functional films and coatings. Therefore, the goal of this manuscript is to review the multitude of composite systems that are currently available for food packaging purposes. In addition, we discuss the application of composite coatings to fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat and seafood as model food systems.
Keywords: Binary; Composite; Edible films and coatings; Food packaging; Ternary.