Novel Active Edible Food Packaging Films Based Entirely on Citrus Peel Wastes

This report presents a novel approach to utilizing citrus peel waste by extracting pectin from grapefruit peels and incorporating bioactive ingredients to create active edible films with enhanced properties, including antimicrobial activity and barrier properties, making them potential candidates for eco-friendly antimicrobial food packaging and shelf life extension of fresh-cut produce. The films exhibited superior physico-chemical properties compared to commercial citrus pectin, and the inclusion of grapefruit peel extract and lemon peel extract capsules further improved their performance. 

Wrapping contaminated cherry tomatoes with these films inhibited the growth of E. coli, demonstrating their effectiveness in food preservation. The study highlights the value of citrus waste valorization and supports the potential application of these novel edible films as sustainable alternatives to synthetic food packaging materials.