Because PCNC packaging materials are relatively inexpensive to manufacture, there are already numerous companies that have made them commercially available.
Most commercially available PCNC products are marketed toward a very specific application, including several in the food and beverage industry.
PCNC packaging materials have, for example, become popular with beverage manufacturers, such as Miller Brewing Company, which has used them to manufacture plastic bottles possessing both high barriers to oxygen and carbon dioxide migration.
Other interested parties in PCNC technology include the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC)
Given the number of studies that cite food packaging as a likely endpoint for PCNC research, the number of researchers who have investigated these materials in shelf life or safety experiments using real food components is surprisingly small.
One study showed that PCNCs based on PET, PHBV and PHB at 5 wt.% exhibit relative permeabilities (Pcomposite/Ppolymer) of d-limonene, a key aroma compound in citrus fruits, of 3.2, 1.6 and 8.8, respectively, indicating that PCNC packaging materials are less likely than conventional plastics to scalp flavors, colors or aroma from foods [141].
More relevant to behavior with real food systems is a 2007 study [151] which showed that total microbial and mold counts on apple slices decreased significantly over a period of 10 days when packaged in CaCO3/iPP PNC films, as opposed to apples stored in neat isotactic PP, which experienced an increase of total mesophilic microflora over the same time period.
The study also showed that the apples stored in PNC packaging ripened better due to ethylene gas retention and exhibited less oxidation than those stored in conventional PP packages.