Exploring the Role of Chitosan in Fabricating Biodegradable Films for Functional Food Packaging: A Review

The overwhelming demand for plastics results in overproduction of plastics especially single-use or non-biodegradable plastics. Consequently, this has given rise to environmental concerns due to the addition of plastic waste in the environment where they may harm human, animals, and ecosystem. Due to this, the adoption of alternative sustainable packaging materials has gained more attention among the researchers and industries in developing biodegradable films in order to reduce plastic pollution. Chitosan is utilized for the formation of biodegradable films. Chitosan that is derived from chitin, is the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose. It is known as a versatile polymer for many applications due to its excellent properties such as biodegradability, non-toxicity, antibacterial effects, and hydrophilicity. However, inherent drawbacks such as high sensitivity to humidity and low mechanical properties become the major limitation to its industrial application, particularly in food packaging applications. In this study, extensive review of the scientific literature addressing chitosan-based films, their properties, and strategies to enhance its physicochemical properties was conducted. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive literature review of the last 10 years (2020-2021) addressing chitosan-based films and strategies implemented for their performance to improve food packaging applications.