Biopolymer Films and Coatings in Packaging Applications: A Review of Recent Developments

This review covers the recent developments in the field of biobased packaging materials. Special emphasis is placed on the barrier properties, which are crucial in terms of food packaging. The state-of-the-art of several biopolymers including pectin, starch, chitosan, xylan, galactoglucomannan, lignin and cellulose nanofibrils is discussed. As in most cases the packaging related properties of single layer biopolymer films are inadequate, the thin film coatings, such as sol-gel and ALD (atomic layer deposition), as well as the multilayer coatings are also briefly touched.