I have always found the idea of edible packaging very cool and intriguing- have your cake wrapper and eat it too 🙂 

Yet there are concerns surrounding it. Will it disintegrate safely post-consumption? Will it leave any harmful traces? Then there’s also the high cost of implementation.

Lucky for us (and the environment) a research team from IIT Guwahati (India) has created a biodegradable and edible coating that will also extend the shelf life of perishable foods. 

The coating is made from micro-algae extract, and it can also extend the shelf life of perishable foods. You can even morph it into a vegetable storage pouch. 

And if dipping isn’t your style, scientists from Rutgers and Harvard University offer you the option to spray on an edible wrapper with their new research.

They have created a biodegradable “spray-on wrapper” which increases the shelf life of food. Their key ingredient is pullulan, an edible fiber which is “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) by the U.S. FDA. 

And if you’d like to dive deeper into the world of edible packaging, I’d like to tell you about a packaging startup that has created an edible material that has nutritional values ​​and also meets zero-waste objectives for instant foods. 

You can find the startup name and their research here- https://www.greyb.com/blog/sustainable-packaging-startups/  

If we think about it, nature does edible packaging well. Apple and grape skins protect the fruit from microbes and the environment. And then there are ice cream cones too 🙂 

Now, with innovations like algae-based films and spray-on wrappers, we’re bringing that wisdom into modern packaging. Practical, tasty, and zero waste, it may be the future we actually want to bite into.