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Mahesh

03/08/22 13:45 PM IST

Biodegradable biopolymer nanocomposite that detects relative humidity can monitor packed food freshness

In News 
  • A newly developed biodegradable, biopolymer nanocomposite which can detect relative humidity can find application as smart packaging materials, especially for the food industry.  
What is the need?
  • The food industry has an increasing need for non-toxic, biodegradable, low-cost, and environmentally friendly material for use as packaging material to replace petroleum-based material like plastics.
  • Besides, it also needs smart and active packaging materials to detect and report food quality in a real-time fashion.
  • Such smart and active packaging systems respond to signals while interacting with the food packaging environment. Perishable packed foods are easily damaged by the change in relative humidity.
Biopolymer Nanocomposite 
  • Scientists from the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology have developed a smart biodegradable biopolymer nanocomposite which can detect relative humidity.
  • In this, two biopolymers, Guar Gum (a variety of beans obtained from plant) and Alginate (obtained from brown algae), were blended with carbon dots (nanomaterial) to make a nanocomposite film that was successfully used to detect relative humidity.
  • The fabricated nanocomposite film was an excellent smart sensor based on the fluorescence ‘on-off’ mechanisms against humidity. 
  • The nanocomposite film shows change in fluorescence in presence of high humidity.
  • Hence, the fabricated nanocomposite film can monitor the packed food freshness using just a UV light source.
  • Smart and active packaging can help consumers select a fresh product without breaking the pack. 
Source- PIB 

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