Application of metal organic frameworks in polysaccharide-based antibacterial food packaging: A review

Bacterial contamination causes food spoilage and illness, highlighting the need for effective antibacterial packaging. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit high surface area and adjustable porosity, enabling their use as antibacterial agents or carriers. Incorporating polysaccharide-based substrates (e.g., cellulose, chitosan, cyclodextrin) improves the dispersibility, biocompatibility, and environmental sustainability of MOF-based composites. This review summarizes recent advances in MOFs/polysaccharide composites for antibacterial food packaging, detailing their antibacterial mechanisms, preparation methods, and performance enhancements. Furthermore, we discuss the toxicity evaluation of MOF-based materials, and analyze the current challenges and future perspectives for their application. The findings indicate that MOFs/polysaccharide composites offer promising potential for safe, effective, and sustainable antibacterial food packaging.