Bioactive peptides and protein hydrolysates from food proteins in biopolymer films: A comprehensive review on innovations in food preservation

Conventional packaging materials are problematic due to their adverse environmental impact. The food industry is seeking more sustainable alternatives, such as biodegradable packaging, which offers barriers against gases and moisture and has antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Bioactive peptides from animal and plant sources are promising for developing active food films. Given the potential of bioactive peptides as bioactive agents in packaging applications, this article aimed to review the current research on applying bioactive peptides generated from food proteins to develop new active food packaging materials. Incorporating bioactive peptides obtained from different food protein sources as active agents in biopolymeric films has proven to be a promising strategy for producing films with excellent antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. The developed films can improve oxidative and microbial stabilities, especially for meat products such as sole fillet, smoked pork ham, pork loin, fish carcass, salmon, etc. Furthermore, adding these peptides and protein hydrolysates has been demonstrated to improve some physical properties of films, such as barrier to UV light and thermal stability. In contrast, it can negatively affect others, such as mechanical and water-related properties. However, some studies have suggested using nanoreinforcements to minimize the impact of these compounds on these properties. Therefore, bioactive peptides obtained from different sources of food proteins have a high potential for developing new active packaging materials for foods.