Citrus fruits are one of the most popular crops in the world, and around one quarter of them are subjected to industrial processes, aiming at the production of different food products. Citrus processing generates large amounts of waste, including peels, pulp, and seeds. These materials are rich sources of polymers (e.g., pectin, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin), phenolic compounds, and essential oils. At the same time, the development of food packaging materials using citrus waste is a highly sought strategy for food preservation, and meets the principles of circular economy. This review surveys current advances in the development of active and intelligent food packaging produced using one or more citrus waste components (polymers, phenolics extracts, and essential oils). It highlights the contribution and effects of each of these components on the properties of the developed packaging, as well as emphasizes the current state and challenges for developing citrus‐based packaging. Most of the reported investigations employed citrus pectin as a base polymer to produce packaging films through the casting technique. Likewise, most of them focused on developing active materials, and fewer studies have explored the preparation of citrus waste‐based intelligent materials. All studies characterized the materials developed, but only a few actually applied them to food matrices. This review is expected to encourage novel investigations that contribute to food preservation and to reduce the environmental impacts caused by discarded citrus byproducts.

Electrospun nanofibrous membranes have garnered significant attention in antimicrobial applications, owing to their intricate three-dimensional network that confers an interconnected porous structure, high specific surface area, and tunable physicochemical properties, as well as their notable capacity for loading and sustained release of antimicrobial agents. Tailoring polymer or hybrid-based nanofibrous membranes with stimuli-responsive characteristics further enhances their versatility, enabling them to exhibit broad-spectrum or specific activity against diverse microorganisms. In this review, we elucidate the pivotal advancements achieved in the realm of stimuli-responsive antimicrobial electrospun nanofibers operating by light, temperature, pH, humidity, and electric field, among others. We provide a concise introduction to the strategies employed to design smart electrospun nanofibers with antimicrobial properties. The core section of our review spotlights recent progress in electrospun nanofiber-based systems triggered by single- and multi-stimuli. Within each stimulus category, we explore recent examples of nanofibers based on different polymers and antimicrobial agents. Finally, we delve into the constraints and future directions of stimuli-responsive nanofibrous materials, paving the way for their wider application spectrum and catalyzing progress toward industrial utilization.