Chitosan Films and Coatings Containing Essential Oils: Applications for Aquatic Food

Abstract

Fish is one of the most traded food products in the world. Vacuum and modified atmosphere packaging, cold storage, freezing are often used to preserve fish products, but these traditional preservation methods do not always fully preserve quality. Edible films and coatings are packaging systems that can be consumed with foods by covering the surface of foods, biodegradable, improving the mechanical properties of food products, moisture and gas barriers, microbial protection, sensory perception and shelf life. Recently, essential oils (EOs) have been added to further increase the effectiveness of these systems and enhance their antimicrobial/antibacterial effects. In this review, it is aimed to summarize the application forms and components of edible films and coatings used to protect the quality of fish products, which can spoil very early due to their chemical structure, and to improve their sensory properties.