Gaseous and volatile active compounds are versatile to enhance safety and preserve quality of agri-food products during storage and distribution. However, the use of these compounds is limited by their high vapor pressure and/or chemical instability, especially in active packaging (AP) applications. Various approaches for stabilizing and controlling the release of active gaseous/volatile compounds have been developed, including encapsulation (e.g., into supramolecular matrices, polymer-based films, electrospun nonwovens) and triggered release systems involving precursor technology, thereby allowing their safe and effective use in AP applications. In this review, encapsulation technologies of gases (e.g., CO2 , ClO2 , SO2 , ethylene, 1-methylcyclopropene) and volatiles (e.g., ethanol, ethyl formate, essential oils and their constituents) into different solid matrices, polymeric films, and electrospun nonwovens are reviewed, especially with regard to encapsulation mechanisms and controlled release properties. Recent developments on utilizing precursor compounds of bioactive gases/volatiles to enhance their storage stability and better control their release profiles are discussed. The potential applications of these controlled release systems in AP of agri-food products are presented as well.
Keywords: active packaging; controlled release; encapsulation; gaseous active compounds; precursor; volatile active compounds.
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