Abstract
Plastic, usually derived from non-renewable sources, is among the most used materials in food packaging. Despite its barrier properties, plastic packaging has a recycling rate below the ideal and its accumulation in the environment leads to environmental issues. One of the solutions approached to minimize this impact is the development of food packaging materials made from polymers from renewable sources that, in addition to being biodegradable, can also be edible. Different biopolymers from agricultural renewable sources such as gelatin, whey protein, starch, chitosan, alginate and pectin, among other, have been analyzed for the development of biodegradable films. Moreover, these films can serve as vehicles for transporting bioactive compounds, extending their applicability as bioactive, edible, compostable and biodegradable films. Biopolymer films incorporated with plant-derived bioactive compounds have become an interesting area of research. The interaction between environment-friendly biopolymers and bioactive compounds improves functionality. In addition to interfering with thermal, mechanical and barrier properties of films, depending on the properties of the bioactive compounds, new characteristics are attributed to films, such as antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, color and innovative flavors. This review compiles information on agro-based biopolymers and plant-derived bioactive compounds used in the production of bioactive films. Particular emphasis has been given to the methods used for incorporating bioactive compounds from plant-derived into films and their influence on the functional properties of biopolymer films. Some limitations to be overcome for future advances are also briefly summarized. This review will benefit future prospects for exploring innovative methods of incorporating plant-derived bioactive compounds into films made from agricultural polymers.
Highlights
Most food packaging is produced from synthetic materials from non-renewable sources, which, despite having excellent barrier and resistance properties, are causing serious environmental problemsPolymers 2020, 12, 2518; doi:10.3390/polym12112518 www.mdpi.com/journal/polymersPolymers 2020, 12, 2518 due to the generation of high amounts of non-degradable solid waste [1]
2.12 × 109 g·Pa−1 ·s−1 ·m−1 ) and water solubility (53.8% to 29.1%, at 95 ◦ C). These results demonstrate that the properties presented by the films highly depend on the characteristics of the encapsulated bioactive compound, the characteristics of the encapsulating agent, and the compatibility between the encapsulating materials, bioactive compounds and the film-forming material [129]
Agro-based polymers, i.e., starch, sodium alginate, pectin, chitosan, cellulose, whey protein, gelatin, soy and gluten proteins have been extensively used for the production of environment-friendly food films or packaging
Summary
Most food packaging is produced from synthetic materials from non-renewable sources, which, despite having excellent barrier and resistance properties, are causing serious environmental problems. These polymer fragments can only be considered biodegradable if they are consumed by microorganisms as food and energy source converted at the end of the degradation process into carbon dioxide (CO2 ), water (H2 O) and biomass under aerobic conditions and hydrocarbons, methane and biomass under anaerobic conditions [6] Polysaccharides, such as starch [7,8,9], cellulose [1,2] alginate sodium [3,10], pectin [4,11], chitosan [8,12], gums [13,14,15]; and proteins, such as whey [10,16], soy [17,18], gluten [19,20,21] and gelatine [10,19,22,23] are among the most employed biopolymers in the development of biodegradable films. When the bioactive compound is extracted and purified, it is more exposed to external adverse conditions (light, pH, oxygen, etc.), which facilitates its volatilization and oxidation during the production of films due to processing conditions (temperature, pH) [30,35,82], which contributes to this difficulty in standardizing the properties of bioactive films
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