Plastics based materials are frequently used in packaging and can be seen universally in both the developed and developing societies. At present, most of the currently used food packaging materials are non-degradable and are creating serious environmental problems. New technologies are being explored and developed to study the complex interaction between the food packaging materials and food. For example, nanocomposite of cellulose constitute environmentally friendly packaging, which is easily recycled by combustion and requires low power consumption in production. There are several such biodegradable materials which are available at a low price, have good mechanical properties and allow disposal in the soil. This is advantageous because biological degradation produces only carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic compounds to name a few. It has also been discovered that biodegradable plastics made of such materials can be disposed of together with organic waste. The widespread use of biopolymers in place of standard plastics would help to reduce the weight of waste. Therefore, biodegradable materials take part in the natural cycle "from nature to nature" and play an important role for environmental sustainability. So in this article, we briefly summarizes the different characteristic of biodegradable polymers being used in food packaging applications.

Innovative solutions using biopolymer-based materials made of several constituents seems to be particularly attractive for packaging in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. In this direction, some progress has been made in extending use of the electrospinning process towards fiber formation based on biopolymers and organic compounds for the preparation of novel packaging materials. Electrospinning can be used to create nanofiber mats characterized by high purity of the material, which can be used to create active and modern biomedical and pharmaceutical packaging. Intelligent medical and biomedical packaging with the use of polymers is a broadly and rapidly growing field of interest for industries and academia. Among various polymers, alginate has found many applications in the food sector, biomedicine, and packaging. For example, in drug delivery systems, a mesh made of nanofibres produced by the electrospinning method is highly desired. Electrospinning for biomedicine is based on the use of biopolymers and natural substances, along with the combination of drugs (such as naproxen, sulfikoxazol) and essential oils with antibacterial properties (such as tocopherol, eugenol). This is a striking method due to the ability of producing nanoscale materials and structures of exceptional quality, allowing the substances to be encapsulated and the drugs/ biologically active substances placed on polymer nanofibers. So, in this article we briefly summarize the recent advances on electrospinning of biopolymers with particular emphasis on usage of Alginate for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.

Recently, biocomposites have emerged as materials of great interest to the scientists and industry around the globe. Among various polymers, polylactic acid (PLA) is a popular matrix material with high potential for advanced applications. Various particulate materials and nanoparticles have been used as the filler in PLA based matrix. One of the extensively studied filler is cellulose. However, cellulose fibres, due to their hydrophilic nature, are difficult to blend with a hydrophobic polymer matrix. This leads to agglomeration and creates voids, reducing the mechanical strength of the resulting composite. Moreover, the role of the various forms of pure cellulose and its particle shape factors has not been analyzed in most of the current literature. Therefore, in this work, materials of various shapes and shape factors were selected as fillers for the production of polymer composites using Polylactic acid as a matrix to fill this knowledge gap. In particular, pure cellulose fibres (three types with different elongation coefficient) and two mineral nanocomponents: precipitated calcium carbonate and montmorillonite were used. The composites were prepared by a melt blending process using two different levels of fillers: 5% and 30%. Then, the analysis of their thermomechanical and physico-chemical properties was carried out. The obtained results were presented graphically and discussed in terms of their shape and degree of filling.

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In this article, we report in detail the use of protective gases to extend the shelf-life of polymer-film-packed foodstuff and reduce the most typical bacteria and microorganisms that negatively affect the quality and lifetime of a given packaging. This article provides significant information about the most important advantages of using protective gases and examples of gases or gas mixtures which can be used for almost every kind of foodstuff depending on the application. We also discuss how protective gases change the level of microorganisms in food using gases and how the shelf-life of food can be enhanced using correct gases or gas mixtures. The article also provides imperative information on the selection of correct protective gases for specific applications, especially for food production, to preserve against the most typical threats which can appear during the packaging or production process. Packaging innovations can reduce the environmental impact of food and polymer packaging waste by prolonging products’ shelf-lives and by reducing waste along the production and distribution chain and at the household level.