Polymer in the parlance of Packaging

Agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and food industries play vital role for rural economy. India is the largest producer of fresh milk, fruits and second largest producer of vegetables. But significance of this achievement would remain incomplete unless the derived products are protected, stored and transported from the rural area to the global market competi­ tively for economic growth and gain. Packaging is now an intricate technology that is employed to maintain freshness of the food and allied items without loss of their nutritive and functional value for prolonged periods of time. India is just beginning to witness value addition in packaged food but is yet to catch up with the global market trend. In this article selection of polymer as packaging material with reference to the nature of products has been discussed briefly. Besides, host of new approach of artful and functional packaging systems like Active packaging. Edipack, Vacuum packaging. Microwave as well as Radiofrequency (RF) manipulable packaging, Biodegradable packaging, Retort packag­ ing, Aceptic packaging (AP), Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) etc. are also outlined in this article.