2026-09-07 九州大学
食品包装が従来の受動的な保護機能から、腐敗検知、自己修復、AIによる品質予測、意思決定支援までを統合した情報システムへ進化する研究の概念図。包装が食品状態を検知し、デジタルデータ化し、AI解析を経て流通や消費者への情報提供につながる将来像を示している。
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/researches/view/1563
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224426004152
未来を見据えた食品包装に向けて：受動的な保護から、インテリジェントで自己修復機能を備え、データ活用可能なシステムへ Toward future-ready food packaging: From passive protection to intelligent, self-healing, and data-enabled systems
Fanze Meng, Xirui Yan, Jiao Zeng, Amna Bibi, Xinrui Mao, Laras Putri Wigati, Tran Thi Van, Ata Aditya Wardana, Fumina Tanaka, Fumihiko Tanaka
Trends in Food Science & Technology Available online: 13 July 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2026.105943
Highlights
- Food packaging evolution from passive barriers to future-ready systems is explored.
- Responsive materials, indicators and sensors for freshness monitoring are summarized.
- Digital traceability tools linking packaging signals with data systems are reviewed.
- Self-healing systems preserve barrier function and signal reliability after damage.
- AI enables self-learning packaging for shelf-life prediction and risk decisions.
Abstract
Background
Food packaging is essential for protecting food quality and safety during storage and distribution. However, conventional passive systems are increasingly unable to meet the growing demands for freshness indication, sustainability, and supply-chain responsiveness. Consequently, packaging is evolving from a static barrier to a functional interface capable of sensing, maintaining performance, and supporting adaptive decision-making.
Scope and approach
This review examined the evolution of food packaging from conventional barrier systems to intelligent, self-healing, and data-enabled platforms. It discusses responsive material platforms, indicator and sensor technologies, digital traceability tools, self-healing mechanisms, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence in freshness evaluation, shelf-life prediction, and adaptive quality management.
Key findings and conclusions
Intelligent packaging translates changes in pH, gases, volatile metabolites, temperature history, humidity, and microbial activity into readable optical, electrical, and digital signals. Self-healing materials extend this functionality by restoring the barrier integrity, mechanical continuity, active-release behavior, and signal reliability after damage. Artificial intelligence further enables the interpretation of multimodal packaging outputs for risk classification, shelf-life estimation, and decision support. However, broader translation is still limited by signal drift, insufficient food contact safety validation, weak long-term reliability, structural–functional tradeoffs, high fabrication costs, and poor integration among sensing, repair, and data interpretation. Future progress should prioritize calibrated signals, function-oriented healing assessments, scalable manufacturing, regulatory readiness, and closed-loop architectures that connect recognition, judgment, actuation, and feedback. Overall, future-ready food packaging should be understood not as a single material innovation but as a system-level interface linking food state, package performance, data reliability, and supply-chain action.
