Sign In
Learn bits
Science & Tech.
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 

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 May

Key objectives of caste count

'The Union Cabinet has decided that the next Census will include questions on caste to its enumeration of India’s population, for the first time in almost a century. ' T

Read More

05 May

2 new genome-edited rice varieties

'Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently released two genome-edited varieties of rice, the first achievement of its kind in the country.' These two varieties, which

Read More

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps