Active Packaging of Breads

Bread packaging:
Bread is a staple food worldwide and it comes in many types, shapes, sizes and texture, depending on national and regional traditions.
It can be consumed as artisan bread, freshly prepared every day by bakers, or it can be found as commercially packaged sliced bread.
According to the International Association of Plant Bakers (AIBI), there is a great number of differences in the patterns of bread production and consumption among countries. In Greece, Turkey and Italy, craft bakeries represent the highest share and are a rooted food tradition, while in Bulgaria, the Netherlands and the UK, there are high percentages of market share of industrial bakeries, which meet the growing demand for sliced and wrapped bread.
Bread is a dynamic system undergoing physical, chemical and microbiological changes which limit its shelf-life. Physical and chemical changes determine loss of freshness, in terms of desirable texture and taste, and lead to the progressive firming-up of the crumb. Microbiological spoilage by bacteria, yeasts and moulds consists on visible mould growth, invisible production of mycotoxins and formation of off-flavours, which might be produced even before fungal outgrowth is visible.
Spoiled bread hence represents a matter of concern, as it causes enormous food waste (i.e., 5–10% world bread production losses) and economic losses both for the bakery industry and the consumer, as well as human into xication due to contamination with fungal mycotoxins. The latter are, in fact, often associated with several acute and chronic diseases in humans.
To tackle this economic and safety issue, the bakery industry has long been working to identify and implement strategies and methods which allow a longer bread shelf-life, the lowest number of changes in bread organoleptic quality, and also bread safety.
Physical methods like ultra violet (UV) light, Infrared (IR), microwave (MW) heating, ultra-high pressure (UHP) treatments are used to destroy post-baking contaminants. Chemical preservatives, such as acetic acid, potassium acetate, sodium acetate, and others are applied in accordance to the limit s laid down by the Regulation (EC) No. 1333/2008 on food additives. Sourdough has also recently become an established form of food bio-preservation and the role played by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as bio-agents and inhibitors to bread spoilage has been scientifically explored and highlighted.
Active packaging is one more option, with the rationale of absorbing and/or releasing compounds effective against bread staling and/or antimicrobials preventing the growth of undesirable microorganisms. Nanotechnologies have been also applied in order to design active packaging and are opening up a whole universe of new possibilities for both the food industry and the consumers.
Nano Fidar Nikan Pars Company has introduced its active (smart) packages to the market in order to help improve the storage conditions of different types of bread and prevent its spoilage. These packages can increase the shelf life of breads by controlling the internal atmospheric conditions as well as their antimicrobial properties.