Recent trends in the application of films and coatings based on starch, cellulose, chitin, chitosan, xanthan, gellan, pullulan, Arabic gum, alginate, pectin, and carrageenan in food packaging

Abstract

Abstract The inevitable drawbacks of petrochemical polymer‐based packaging (e.g., extreme loss of fossil resources, excessive products’ carbon footprint, and inordinate environmental pollution resulting from the accumulation of disposed nonbiodegradable plastic‐based packages) have urged scientists to develop novel packaging materials from nature‐inspired biopolymers. Due to their biodegradability, non‐toxicity, film‐forming ability, and barrier properties versus gasses/aroma, polysaccharides have been increasingly valued in developing food packaging materials at the lab or industrial scale. Nonetheless, these valuable biopolymers also suffer from some inherent deficiencies, that is, low resistance to water and poor mechanical attributes. Hitherto, tackling such bottlenecks via the modification of biopolymers through chemical/physical approaches and applying a combination of several biopolymers has been the main focus of numerous recent studies. In this context, the present article, for the first time, provides a comprehensive update on the most recent utilization of common polysaccharides (e.g., starch, chitosan, xanthan gum, gum Arabic, alginate, gellan, pectin, and carrageenan) for food packaging applications.

Keywords

• biopolymers
• films
• food packaging
• polysaccharides