The current active packaging is well defined by the EC regulation 450/2009 which states: "... active materials and objects intended to come into contact with food products are materials and objects intended to extend the shelf life or maintain or improve the conditions of packaged food products. They are designed to deliberately incorporate components that release substances into, or absorb into, the packaged food product or its environment ”.

It seems to be a conquest of our times to better preserve the products inside the packaging, whether they are food or other products, making them, at times, interact with the packaging that contain them.

This means worrying and studying how the packaging interacts with the product contained, how time, structure and chemistry make this relationship evolve, finally verifying the pros and cons, on the product that will be used.

There was no plastic, aluminum, Tetra Pack, but wood, glass and ceramic yes, and above all through the wooden barrels, our predecessors sensed that the barrel had a close relationship with the final quality of the wine.

In fact, they realized that the fine wood barrels yielded polyphenolic substances to wines and spirits that improved the color, flavor and aroma of the product.

Today, with the increase in the types of packaging available to us, the problems that we must consider and solve in order to control adverse reactions between packaging and product and encourage positive ones have also multiplied.

Humidity. This favors the proliferation of molds and bacteria in some cases, while in others it is necessary to control the aerobic respiration of plants and microorganisms. For these reasons it is necessary to act in order to be able to control the development of humidity in the packages based on the type of product contained. To do this, it is possible to use bags containing silica gel, calcium chloride and calcium oxide, or multilayer materials containing hygroscopic compounds, such as Pitchit film.

Oxygen. Everyone knows that the presence of oxygen facilitates the reduction of the shelf life of stored food products as a result of reactions (chemical and enzymatic oxidations, degradation of pigments and aromas) and metabolisms (aerobic respiration, proliferation of aerobic bacteria, molds and yeasts). A widely used system is the preservation of food through vacuum packing, but there are other methods, such as sachets that absorb oxygen, consisting of small elements that, through a chemical reaction between metallic Fe and O2, reduce its presence inside. of the packaging. This methodology is not applicable to all packaging as the chemical reaction is triggered in the presence of a certain degree of humidity and the presence of iron can interfere with the automated logistics systems in the presence of metal detectors.

Ethylene. Ethylene is a plant hormone that influences the aerobic process and the ripening of many fruits, therefore its reduction produces a slowdown in the ripening of the product. Substances capable of adsorbing ethylene, such as activated carbon, silica gel and zeolites, can be included in the packaging.

Volatile compounds deriving from the degradation of food. Especially the lipid and protein degradation of food produces volatile substances with an unpleasant smell. Volatile aldehydes (hexanal, nonanal, etc.) produced during the oxidation of unsaturated lipids, can be intercepted by chemical compounds inserted in polyolefin copolymers (PE / PP). There are other chemicals, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and volatile mercaptans (R-SH), which are generated by protein degradation, can be sequestered with specific adsorbents.

Antioxidants. Contained in the plastic materials intended for packaging production favor a protective action over time. There are also natural antioxidants, such as α-tocopherol, which is added in the production of specific packaging films.

Natural Antimicrobials. They are substances responsible for controlling microbial proliferation in food that interact with the humidity and temperature inside the packaging in contact with the fresh product.