In 2009, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations announced that food production must increase by 70% by 2050 to meet the food needs of 9 billion people worldwide.

In the agricultural industry, the process of producing products does not end with the harvest. Around the world, about one third of all fruits and vegetables never reach the consumer. On average, 20 to 50 percent of agricultural products turn into waste from the harvesting stage to consumption. Many factors play a role in post-harvest waste of fresh fruits and vegetables. Biochemical factors in plant tissues include respiration and ethylene production, while external stress factors include mechanical damage, water scarcity, and microbes, both of which significantly affect the quality of the product in terms of color, texture, flavor, and nutritional value. In industrialized countries, it is estimated that about 20 to 25 percent of harvested fruits are quickly damaged due to improper packaging during transport and by pathogens. The rate of degradation depends on environmental conditions, including temperature, relative humidity, air speed, and atmospheric composition (levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, ethylene).

The use of new technology to reduce waste and prevent damage from the time of harvest until the consumption of agricultural products is very essential and important. Considering that fruits and vegetables degrade rapidly after harvest and suffer from quality loss, appropriate packaging is one of the suitable ways to increase shelf life and maintain quality while reducing agricultural product waste.

Currently, in developed countries, rather than increasing the area under cultivation of agricultural products, there is more emphasis on reducing post-harvest waste through the use of innovative technologies. Researchers' results show that the selection of suitable packaging for products can increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by 300 to 800 percent. One of the most important innovations in this area is active packaging, which is rapidly developing.

Active packaging (AP) is an innovative packaging system where the product and external environment are in balance with each other, which leads to longer shelf life and better quality maintenance of the product.

In 1989, Labuza and Brein introduced the use of active packaging (AP) for the long-term preservation of food. He also used the term smart packaging or freshness-preserving for active packaging.

Fresh products breathe like living organisms. When fruits and vegetables respire, sugar and oxygen are converted into carbon dioxide, water, and heat, leading to the breakdown of carbohydrates and spoilage factors. In other words, respiration causes the aging and spoiling of fresh products.

In active packaging, active effective materials are incorporated into the polymer wall of the packaging. In this method, active materials can absorb oxygen, ethylene, moisture, carbon dioxide, antimicrobial agents, flavors, and aromas inside the packaging, and release carbon dioxide, antimicrobial agents, antioxidants, and flavors through the packaging wall, which helps to increase the shelf life and maintain the quality of food products.

Active and smart packaging to reduce post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables.

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