**1.8 An application of antimicrobial packaging**

Foodborne diseases caused by the consumption of food products contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms contribute to serious health issues in approximately 30% of the world population [102]. Additionally, the food industry has been facing

huge losses due to microbial contamination for many years [3, 103]. As per the available data from World Health Organization [3], it was estimated that 600 million people fall ill after consuming contaminated food and around 420,000 die every year across the world. To avoid microorganisms' entry and growth inside food with extended shelf-life during their preservation, various packaging systems have been used. As a response to these needs, food packaging technology is constantly evolving from passive to innovative solutions, including active antimicrobial packaging [1]. The use of antimicrobial packaging is a practicable option to inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms responsible for food spoilage and toxins in products throughout the postharvest period [1, 3]. The antimicrobial packaging described above may offer a potential solution for extending the shelf-life of packaged products without altering the food or the processes involved. The food could be healthier and free of preservatives, while still retaining all of the desirable qualities and food product safety requirements. The influence of antimicrobial packaging on the increased shelf-life of food products was proved by many researchers. Emamifar et al. [104] reported that LDPE nanocomposite packaging materials containing ZnO and Ag-NPs were conducive to prolong the shelf-life of fresh orange juice stored at 4°C. Several other researchers successfully developed an antimicrobial packaging material to preserve food products [105–107]. Li et al. [105] used coated materials, containing nano-ZnO particles to improve the shelf-life of freshly cut apples. Li et al. [107] used PLA-nanocomposite films to preserve cottage cheese. Zinoviadou et al. [108] used whey protein to isolate films containing antimicrobials to extend the shelf-life of fresh beef. **Table 2** shows more examples of the applications of antimicrobial packaging in food preservation.

### **1.9 Conclusions**

Around 100 million tons of food products are wasted annually in the EU, which influences negatively on the environment. It was estimated that food waste would rise up to 200 million tons by 2050. Even if the relationship between shelf-life and food waste is not obvious, a huge part of food waste is related to the short shelf-life of fresh food products [2]. Antimicrobial packaging may be a solution to this problem. The fundamental role of antimicrobial packaging is to extend the shelf-life of food products by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms causing food spoilage. Longer shelflife of food may lead to limit food waste and foodborne diseases and decreasing the negative impact of uneaten food on the environment and economy [3]. However, the long use of petroleum-based, antimicrobial packaging materials has also a negative influence on the environment because, after a single use of food packaging, 40% of these materials end up in landfill that corresponds to 9 million tons of plastic packaging waste accumulated in soils [3, 53]. Therefore, in 2015, the European Commission adopted a "circular economy action plan" with the goal to set the European Union on the course of the transition toward a more sustainable model for economic development [53]. Matthews et al. [53] mentioned that the main purpose of the EU's action plan is to maximize the usefulness of materials and resources and keep them in the economy for as long as possible to limit waste. The authors underlined that a circular economy could grow Europe's resource productivity by up to 3% annually by 2030. Two of the five important sectors identified in this action plan are food waste and plastics. The use of renewable/biobased sources for packaging materials has become a huge challenge. As a result of awareness in recent years, according to the latest data, the market for bio-based packaging material is predicted to increase from USD 81.70

