Background

Meat spoilage is a major barrier to global food security, public health, and economic sustainability, causing extensive losses across the supply chain. Conventional antimicrobial packaging, based on uncontrolled diffusion of active agents, suffers from non-specific activity, premature depletion, and concerns over chemical migration and sensory quality. These limitations are driving a shift toward precision preservation through non-migratory active packaging, redefining packaging as an engineered interface that disrupts spoilage mechanisms.

Scope and approach

This review focused on non-migratory active antimicrobial packaging for precision preservation of meat. This review first dissects the micro-ecological and molecular drivers of meat spoilage to identify actionable targets. It then critically evaluates material strategies enabling bioinspired anti-adhesion surfaces, immobilized contact-killing agents (e.g., antimicrobial peptides, polyphenols, cationic moieties), and environment-responsive polymers that activate upon pH shifts, volatile nitrogen compounds, or light exposure.

Key findings and conclusions

Non-migratory membranes reimagine packaging as an engineered, context-responsive interface: preventing microbial attachment, sustaining durable antimicrobial activity without depletion, and triggering on-demand responses to spoilage cues. Emerging frontiers, including RNA-based tools for targeted gene silencing, intelligent sensing platforms, and AI-driven modeling for real-time shelf-life prediction, are converging to enable closed-loop preservation systems. Such systems could autonomously detect spoilage signals, activate antimicrobial defenses when and where needed, and adapt to each product's storage history. Together, these advances enable intelligent, precision-driven packaging that enhances food safety and sustainability, reduces meat waste, and strengthens food security.