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Review

Application of Nanotechnology to Improve the Performance of Biodegradable Biopolymer-Based Packaging Materials

Submitted:

21 October 2021

Posted:

22 October 2021

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Abstract
There is great interest in developing biodegradable biopolymer-based packaging materials whose functional performance is enhanced by incorporating active compounds into them, such as light blockers, plasticizers, crosslinkers, diffusion blockers, antimicrobials, antioxidants, and sensors. However, many of these compounds are volatile, chemically unstable, water-insoluble, matrix incompatible, or have adverse effects on film properties, which makes them difficult to directly incorporate into the packaging materials. These challenges are being overcome by incorporating the bioactive compounds into nanoparticles, which are then introducing into the packaging materials. The presence of these nanoencapsulated active compounds in biopolymer-based coatings or films can greatly improve their functional performance. This article reviews the different kinds of nanocarriers available for loading active compounds into these types of materials, and then discusses their impact on the optical, mechanical, thermal, barrier, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of the packaging materials. Furthermore, this article highlights the different kinds of bioactive compounds that can be incorporated into biopolymer-based packaging.
Keywords: 
Packaging materials; Bioactive compounds; Nanotechnology; Nanoencapsulation; Sustainability; Plant-based.
Subject: 
Chemistry and Materials Science  -   Nanotechnology
Copyright: This open access article is published under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, which permit the free download, distribution, and reuse, provided that the author and preprint are cited in any reuse.

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