Anthocyanin – A Natural Dye for Smart Food Packaging Systems

Abstract

Interest in the use of smart packaging systems for food products has increased in recent years. Therefore, food researchers are focusing on the development of new indicator based smart packaging technologies by using anthocyaninbased natural dye. Anthocyanins are one of the plant constituents known as flavonoids and responsible for the bright and attractive orange, red, purple, and blue colors of most fruits, vegetables, flowers, and some cereal grains. Indicators of natural dyes such as anthocyanins could express the quality and shelf life of perishable food products. However, the sensitivity and stability for their use in smart food packaging should be established to reach the market proposals. This review article focuses on recent studies related to use of natural dyes based on anthocyanin for smart food packaging applications. This study offers valuable insight that may be useful for identifying trends in the commercialization of natural dyes or for identifying new research areas. This review also provides food and packaging scientists with a thorough understanding of the benefits of anthocyanin-based natural dyes for shelf life indicator when applied to package material specific foods and hence can assist in accelerating commercial adoption.