title: Chitosan films and blends for packaging material.
abstract: An increased interest for hygiene in everyday life as well as in food, feed and medical issues lead to a strong interest in films and blends to prevent the growth and accumulation of harmful bacteria. A growing trend is to use synthetic and natural antimicrobial polymers, to provide non-migratory and non-depleting protection agents for application in films, coatings and packaging. In food packaging, antimicrobial effects add up to the barrier properties of the materials, to increase the shelf life and product quality. Chitosan is a natural bioactive polysaccharide with intrinsic antimicrobial activity and, due to its exceptional physicochemical properties imparted by the polysaccharide backbone, has been recognized as a natural alternative to chemically synthesized antimicrobial polymers. This, associated with the increasing preference for biofunctional materials from renewable resources, resulted in a significant interest on the potential for application of chitosan in packaging materials. In this review we describe the latest developments of chitosan films and blends as packaging material.
authors.affiliation: Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, PO Box 17, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Ben.vandenbroek@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Lambertus A M
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: van den Broek
authors.affiliation: Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, PO Box 17, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rutger J I
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Knoop
authors.affiliation: Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, PO Box 17, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frans H J
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Kappen
authors.affiliation: Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, PO Box 17, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Carmen G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Boeriu
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D018857:Food Packaging
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Antimicrobial; Biopolymer; Chitin; Chitosan; Packaging