Hydrogels: Revolutionizing Food Freshness Monitoring, Quality Control, and Preservation

Hydrogels are emerging as smart materials for real-time monitoring of food freshness and quality, with a growing role in enhancing safety and extending shelf life in food systems. Recently, hydrogels loaded with different functional agents have been successfully employed to obtain smart informative materials capable of monitoring online shelf-life and quality of packaged food. Such smart materials — in the form of packaging films, nanofibers, or nanoparticles adopted as stickers — may be multifunctional, showing also preservative effects by controlled release of antimicrobials/antioxidants onto the food surface or head-space of its packaging.In general, smart hydrogel-based materials are loaded with natural pigments such as anthocyanins, carotenoids, or betalains, which show a color change or discoloration correlating with pH change or accumulation of volatile nitrogenous bases originated from microbiological deterioration in packaged and stored food (e.g., fresh meat, poultry, fish, and their products). Hydrocolloid-based smart freshness monitoring and quality control systems have been increasingly fabricated from nanomaterials (e.g., electrospun nanofiber mats, electrospray nanoparticles) that have large surface area, increasing detection limits and strengthening the visibility of color change informing spoilage.This Research Topic aims to focus on review and research articles related to recent advances in freshness monitoring and quality control systems based on hydrogels. A particular emphasis will be put on systems with increased detection limits of spoilage by means of improving material properties (e.g., surface area, transparency, pigment stabilizing effect), discovering novel pigments with sharp color change, or modifying pigments for better color response, intensity, and stability during storage of food products. Novel hydrogel-based smart freshness indicators or improved food applications of such smart materials are also welcome.Key Topics of Interest include, but are not limited to:• Smart hydrogel-based packaging films, nanofibers, and nanoparticles for real-time food freshness monitoring• Natural colorimetric pigments (anthocyanins, carotenoids, betalains) as freshness indicators• pH-responsive and volatile nitrogenous base-sensitive sensing systems• Electrospun nanofiber mats and electrospray nanoparticles for enhanced spoilage detection• Controlled release of antimicrobials and antioxidants from multifunctional hydrogel systems• Improved material properties for spoilage detection (surface area, transparency, pigment stabilization)• Novel or modified pigments with enhanced color response, intensity, and storage stabilityFood-specific applications including fresh meat, poultry, fish, and derived products Topic editors: Ahmet Yemenicioğlu, Nur Hanani Zainal Abedin Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80796/hydrogels-revolutionizing-food-freshness-monitoring-quality-control-and-preservation