Review of design engineering methods and applications of active and modified atmosphere packaging systems

Active packaging (AP) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technologies are shelf-life extension techniques introduced in the last decades in the food industry as a response to the continuous changes in consumer demands and market trends. MAP relies on the modification of the surrounding gas composition solely from the interplay between product metabolism (respiration) and package permeability, while AP is a more innovative technique in which the packaging, or some element of it, also interacts actively with the product to achieve greater shelf-life extension or improve safety or sensory properties. It is possible to design such packages by trial and error, but the most suitable approach is to deploy design engineering methods, based on quantitative models relating the relevant factors influencing respiration rate and gas transfer and the MAP/AP systems. This text provides a review of these tools, as well as their main applications.