ABSTRACT
In recent years, due to new habits of life, there is a growing concern of consumers for their health and the effect of diet as a risk factor for diseases such as obesity, coronary heart disease, hypercholesterolemia, etc. Due to the above, the production and consumption of minimally processed fruits and vegetables are becoming more popular in the market, since these are natural products with numerous health benefits and allow time savings associated with washing, peeling and cut from these foods. Thus, these minimally processed products require a high sanitary control, being the storage the most critical period, since it can suffer attacks of microorganisms or deterioration of the product. The use of active packaging can retain undesirable substances from the product or the environment (O2, H2O, CO2, ethylene, etc.) or release beneficial substances into the product such as antioxidants, antimicrobials, etc., which can be carried out from the material of packaging. Hydrogels are an option because of 90their adequate physical properties. Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymeric structures capable of absorbing a large amount of water or biological fluids. Hydrogels are of great interest as they can be designed for specific applications such as food additives, transport, and release of bioactive substances, films for the protection and coating of food (packaging material), superabsorbent water gels, chemical traps, drug vehicles, synthetic fabric construction, enzyme immobilizing agents.
