Abstract
The food packaging sector generates large volumes of plastic waste due to the high demand for packaged products with a short shelf-life. Biopolymers such as starch-based materials are a promising alternative to non-renewable resins, offering a sustainable and environmentally friendly food packaging alternative for single-use products. This article provides a chronology of the development of starch-based materials for food packaging. Particular emphasis is placed on the challenges faced in processing these materials using conventional processing techniques for thermoplastics and other emerging techniques such as electrospinning and 3D printing. The improvement of the performance of starch-based materials by blending with other biopolymers, use of micro- and nano-sized reinforcements, and chemical modification of starch is discussed. Finally, an overview of recent developments of these materials in smart food packaging is given.
Highlights
Received: 1 December 2021The overexploitation of natural resources and accelerated climate change has led industries to incorporate more environmentally friendly materials and technologies into their processes
Keshk et al [182], reported that the addition of magnetic particles in composite films manifested lower water vapor transmission, it can be concluded that MNPs improve the hydrophobicity
The composite films manifested lower water vapor transmission, it can be concluded that MNPs improve the hydrophobicity and mechanical properties of MNPs/DAS composite films
Summary
Received: 1 December 2021The overexploitation of natural resources and accelerated climate change has led industries to incorporate more environmentally friendly materials and technologies into their processes. The food packaging industry is increasingly looking to replace petroleum-based materials in single-use applications. Until 2019, world plastics production reached 368 million tons [1], of which 40% corresponds to food packaging and take-away food [2]. The main reasons why plastics have been the most widely used materials for such applications are their low cost of production, higher versatility, good barrier properties to water and gas permeability, as well as their mechanical and optical properties [3]. Biopolymers are considered the best solution with regard to replacing synthetic plastics as, they present similar characteristics, they possess a short biodegradation time and good biocompatibility with other materials and high availability.
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