ABSTRACT
Fresh meat and sh muscle food are highly perishable foods, although some differences in the rate of spoilage can be found among species. Meat from animals for slaughter is more resistant to spoilage due to their intrinsic characteristics and postmortem phenomena. However, spoilage is usually faster in the case of sh since they are poikilotherms and their metabolic rate is determined by environmental temperatures. Oxidation processes and microbial contamination are the main causes for spoilage of muscle food, with predominance of one or another depending on the type of product and the preservation system (chilled or frozen). Therefore, one of the primary functions of both traditional plastic packages and biodegradable edible packages is to prevent food spoilage. Edible packages can be of different types, but gelatin-based coatings, combined or not with other biopolymers, are especially relevant since gelatin sets to a gel on cooling, avoiding unnecessary thermal treatments to muscle food. Recent research trends are focused on the development of bioactive coatings and lms, with bioactive compounds that may migrate into the muscle food to prevent spoilage processes and that may exert a benecial effect in human health when they are consumed. These edible coatings and lms may be applied in chilled or frozen meat and sh products. The choice between coating and lm will depend on the type of food product as well as the preservation conditions to which they are subjected.
