Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are still an active area of study despite being a staple of food outlets offering minimally processed foods. These minimally processed foods often have a short shelf life due to enzymatic browning. Active packaging is of current interest as it offers an efficient method to deliver polyphenol oxidase inhibitors onto the surface of foods to suppress browning. Inhibitors incorporated into active packaging can transfer to the food surface either direct or indirect contact of active packaging to food surface. Given that food packaging is often single use, the application of biodegradable polymers in active packaging is very attractive but their compatibility is still being studied. This review would present the determinants for compatibility between inhibitors and packaging matrix and their application to different food types. The review would also feature some novel solutions to enhance the compatibility and performance of anti-browning active packaging.

Novelty impact statement

Active packaging is a novel technology that interacts with food to prolong the food quality to a greater extent including browning inhibition. The choice of packaging polymer and browning inhibitor could affect the efficiency of active packaging to deliver browning inhibition action. This review summarized the compatibility between the packaging polymer and browning inhibitor and the releasing mechanism of the browning inhibitor integrated in the active packaging to the food surface. These could aid the food manufacturers to develop an effective enzymatic browning inhibition-based active packaging in the future.