81 Spice bioactives in edible packaging K Ravi, K Goyal, S Priyadarshi & M M Naidu* Department of Spices & Flavour Sciences, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru-570 020, Karnataka. *E-mail: mmnaidu@cftri.res.in Received 04 October 2020; Revised 08 December 2020; Accepted 18 December 2020 Abstract Edible packaging received significant aention in recent years. The main advantage of edible packaging over synthetic packaging is that they are environment friendly. The material used in edible packaging (lipids, polysaccharides, proteins) is generally recognized as safe and it acts as a barrier to gases, light and moisture. Spices have been traditionally used for its medicinal value. Spice extract or its essential oil possesses various bioactive compounds which are known for their antioxidant and antimicrobial property. Incorporation of spice extract or its essential oil into edible packaging exerts antimicrobial activity against the food pathogens thus preventing food spoilage and enhances the shelf-life and also increases the nutritional value of the final product. Antioxidant properties of spices retard the lipid oxidation. Dietary allergy and intolerance are also associated with packaging material and spices. Because of the high cost of film-forming material, scaling-up of edible packaging has remained a problem. Keywords: antimicrobial activity, bioactive compound, edible coating, edible film, spice constituents, spice essential oil Introduction Global consumption of plastic is about 285 million metric tons (MMT) per year and India contributes about 12.8 MMT annually. In India, more than 40% of packaging needs are catered by plastics (FICCI 2016). Every year plastic wastage of about 8 MMT enters the ocean and it takes 400 years for their breakdown which pollute the cities and harm animal life. To overcome these environmental effects companies are trying to substitute edible packaging as an alternative for plastic packaging (Spencer 2018). Food and pharmaceutical industries have recognized edible packaging as an alternative to plastic packaging. Environmental Protection Agency reported that containers and packaging of food contribute about 30.2% of household waste. Milk proteins, vitamins, proteins and Indian Society for Spices Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops Volume 29 Number 2 December 2020 http://updatepublishing.com/journal/index.php/josac/index ISSN 0971-3328 An UGC approved Journal Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops Vol. 29 (2) : 81-97 (2020) Indian Society for Spices doi : 10.25081/josac.2020.v29.i2.6507