Responsive packaging that adapted to and regulated physiological metabolic of fruits and vegetables: Mechanism, application and prospects

Background

Postharvest fruit and vegetable losses are a serious problem. However, as living organisms, it is difficult for conventional packaging to adapt to fruit physiological metabolism to provide a suitable storage environment. Therefore, it is necessary to study the responsive packaging that can adapt and regulate the physiological metabolism of fruits and vegetables to effectively reduce their losses.

Scope and approach

This paper summarized the response types of packaging and conducted a systematic review of its preservative effects through the “stimulus-response-metabolism-quality” framework. It also analyzed the future prospects and limitations of responsive packaging in fruit applications.

Key findings and conclusions

Responsive packaging can not only dynamically adjust the microenvironment inside the package to adapt to the physiological metabolism of fruits, but also regulate fruit and vegetable metabolism by responsively releasing bioactive substances (such as essential oils, phenolic compounds, and aldehydes) to inhibit microbial reproduction and by dynamically regulating of gas composition (such as ethylene levels and CO₂/O₂) inside the packaging to regulate fruit metabolism to delay fruit senescence. This demonstrated the potential of responsive packaging to preserve fruit and vegetables in the future.