Produção de embalagens a partir do aproveitamento de coprodutos da indústria de alimentos: uma revisão

Abstract

The food industry produces a high volume of waste rich in nutrients, such as: cellulose, protein, lipids, phenolic compounds and others. However, they are used to the production of animal feed or organic fertilization, which have lower added value. As an alternative, several studies propose solutions with greater waste recovery, such as biodegradable packaging. Depending on the composition of the waste, different types of packaging can be produced, which in addition to reducing damage to the environment, can promote improvements or even monitor the deterioration and quality of the food. Thus, this review aims to discuss the use of waste from food industries, focusing on the production of biodegradable packaging. The waste from the food industries and their bioavailability were divided into four sectors: agriculture, fruits and vegetables, beverages and animals. Finally, biomaterials, preparation methods and applications of biodegradable packaging, which had greater use in the studies mentioned, were discussed. The results show that the waste from the fruit and vegetable industries are the ones that have more studies in relation to their use, when compared to other industrial sectors. This is because fruits and vegetables promote greater waste generation, most of which have compositions rich in cellulose and derivatives, phenolic compounds and others that are highly applicable for the production of biodegradable films. Regarding the application in packaging, the studies surveyed produced active, intelligent, edible and composite biodegradable packaging. The active packaging stood out with a greater number of studies than other packaging, which is justified due to the composition of a large part of the residues containing phenolic compounds, such as anthocyanins and others that have the characteristic of making the packaging active. The challenges for the use of biodegradable packaging on a large scale would be the varied composition of residues, in which some have an affinity for water, making food storage difficult. In addition, films are still sold on a small scale, making it difficult for them to compete with polymers. Thus, it is believed that by supplying the limitations that still exist in the production of these films, the use of industrial waste can reduce the production cost of these films and, consequently, increase their production.