Traditional petroleum-derived absorbent pads in meat packaging face critical limitations in sustainability, moisture management, and active preservation, failing to address microbial spoilage, lipid oxidation, and environmental pollution. With meat's high perishability due to exudate accumulation and microbial growth, there is an urgent need for biodegradable, multifunctional alternatives. Biopolymer-based absorbent pads, leveraging renewable materials (polysaccharides, proteins), and advanced structural designs, have emerged as promising solutions to bridge sustainability with enhanced preservation performance. This review systematically examines recent advances in biopolymer-based multifunctional absorbent pads for meat preservation, focusing on their structural innovations (films, hydrogels, aerogels, nanofibers) and fabrication strategies. It analyzes how designs like Janus layers, 3D porous networks, and electrospun cores enable directional fluid transport, high absorption capacity, and sustained release of bioactive agents (antimicrobials, antioxidants). The review also evaluates their applications in preserving various meats (pork, beef, chicken, fish) and critically discusses challenges in scalability, cost, and regulatory approval. Biopolymer-based absorbent pads exhibit synergistic functionalities: efficient exudate absorption isolates moisture to reduce microbial habitats, while integrated bioactive agents (essential oils, nanoparticles) inhibit pathogens and oxidation, extending meat shelf life. Advanced structures like aerogels and nanofibers enhance porosity and surface area, improving absorption, and bioactive delivery. Intelligent designs with pH-responsive indicators further enable real-time freshness monitoring. However, challenges persist, including high production costs, inconsistent performance under dynamic storage conditions, and limited large-scale manufacturing. Addressing these via optimized fabrication, safety validation, and functional integration will accelerate their transition from lab to industry, promoting sustainable meat packaging.
Guo et al. (Sat,) studied this question.