Title: A review of biodegradable films from industrial by-products for food packaging

Authors: Nur Assyiqah Syuhada Mohamad Asri; Siti Noor Suzila Maqsood-ul-Haque; Ummi Kalthum Ibrahim; Huey Ling Tan

Addresses: Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: Food packaging plays an important role in maintaining the quality of packaged food from any chemical, physical and environmental damage. Conventionally, plastic material is commonly used in the food industry due to large availability and excellent mechanical performance at a low cost. However, the usage of plastic packaging in huge amount creates the environmental and health issues. Since the availability of industrial by-products are relative abundance in nature at low cost, reusing of these by-products had gained high interest for researchers to develop new materials that meets food protection and preservation requirements. The addition of a natural bioactive compound such as antioxidant, antimicrobial and pigment also increase the functionality of the film and providing intelligent communication with the consumer. This review will be focusing on the utilisation of agricultural and pharmaceutical by-products as the source of biopolymer and additives in the development of biodegradable packaging film.

Keywords: petroleum-based plastics; biodegradable films; pharmaceutical and agricultural waste; food packaging.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2019.102384

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2019 Vol.10 No.2, pp.157 - 173

Received: 02 Jan 2019
Accepted: 04 Jun 2019
Published online: 23 Sep 2019 *

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