Application of Zein Compound System in Food Packaging

Abstract

In recent years, with the exposure of the problem that traditional plastic packaging is difficult to degrade, the serious problem of white pollution urgently needs to be solved. Zein has attracted much attention in the field of food packaging due to its superior film-forming property and degradability. However, pure Zein membranes have functional defects such as high brittleness and poor hydrophilicity. Therefore, research on the compounding system of Zein membranes became particularly important. The physical and chemical properties and film-forming properties of zein were reviewed, and the synergistic mechanism of zein with polysaccharides, proteins and polyphenols was introduced in detail. Taking the most popular and best compound substances among the three kinds of substances as examples, the improvement points of the composite membrane in mechanical properties, antibacterial properties, antioxidant capacity, thermal stability and other aspects compared with zein single membrane were discussed, and the application effects of the current technology were analyzed. Finally, the future research directions and challenges of zein composite film were put forward, and the broad prospects of zein composite film in the field of food packaging were prospected.