Abstract
In recent years, scientists have focused on research to replace petroleum-based components plastics, in an eco-friendly and cost-effective manner, with plant-derived biopolymers offering suitable mechanical properties. Moreover, due to high environmental pollution, global warming, and the foreseen shortage of oil supplies, the quest for the formulation of biobased, non-toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable polymer films is still emerging. Several biopolymers from varied natural resources such as starch, cellulose, gums, agar, milk, cereal, and legume proteins have been used as eco-friendly packaging materials for the substitute of non-biodegradable petroleum-based plastic-based packaging materials. Among all biopolymers, starch is an edible carbohydrate complex, composed of a linear polymer, amylose, and amylopectin. They have usually been considered as a favorite choice of material for food packaging applications due to their excellent forming ability, low cost, and environmental compatibility. Although the film prepared from bio-polymer materials improves the shelf life of commodities by protecting them against interior and exterior factors, suitable barrier properties are impossible to attain with single polymeric packaging material. Therefore, the properties of edible films can be modified based on the hydrophobic–hydrophilic qualities of biomolecules. Certain chemical modifications of starch have been performed; however, the chemical residues may impart toxicity in the food commodity. Therefore, in such cases, several plant-derived polymeric combinations could be used as an effective binary blend of the polymer to improve the mechanical and barrier properties of packaging film. Recently, scientists have shown their great interest in underutilized plant-derived mucilage to synthesize biodegradable packaging material with desirable properties. Mucilage has a great potential to produce a stable polymeric network that confines starch granules that delay the release of amylose, improving the mechanical property of films. Therefore, the proposed review article is emphasized on the utilization of a blend of source and plant-derived mucilage for the synthesis of biodegradable packaging film. Herein, the synthesis process, characterization, mechanical properties, functional properties, and application of starch and mucilage-based film are discussed in detail.
Highlights
Over the past few years, non-degradable plastic-based materials have created a major challenge for the whole world due to their excessive use in the industrial and domestic sectors and global production which exceeds 400 Mt/year [1]
All of the above factors are impossible to attain with single polymeric packaging material
The properties of edible films can be modified based on the hydrophobic–hydrophilic properties of bio-polymer [8]
Summary
Over the past few years, non-degradable plastic-based materials have created a major challenge for the whole world due to their excessive use in the industrial and domestic sectors and global production which exceeds 400 Mt/year [1]. The result of a study proved that films prepared blended with starch and PVOH are highly suitable and manageable for food packaging applications This is because the incorporation of PVOH into potato starch enhanced the water absorption capacity, and improved mechanical and functional properties and gas permeability of the film. Several techniques are used for the evaluation of the characterizations of films such as: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), used for determining the surface morphology; Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), used to evaluate the specific functional groups present in the sample; nucleus magnetic resonance (NMR), used for the determination of organic terizations of starch–mucilage can be a favorable choice as an alternative to synthetic polymers, especially for food applications All these properties of films mainly depend on the extraction methods of starch–mucilage and synthesis of the film [17]. The SEM pictures revealed that it has the strongest reinforcing mechanical strength because bamboo nano-cellulose has the highest aspect ratio
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