Emerging Food Packaging Applications of Cellulose Nanocomposites: A Review

Abstract

Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, which is synthesized by plants, bacteria, and animals, with source-dependent properties. Cellulose containing β-1,4-linked D-glucoses further assembles into hierarchical structures in microfibrils, which can be processed to nanocellulose with length or width in the nanoscale after a variety of pretreatments including enzymatic hydrolysis, TEMPO-oxidation, and carboxymethylation. Nanocellulose can be mainly categorized into cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) produced by acid hydrolysis, cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) prepared by refining, homogenization, microfluidization, sonification, ball milling, and the aqueous counter collision (ACC) method, and bacterial cellulose (BC) biosynthesized by the Acetobacter species. Due to nontoxicity, good biodegradability and biocompatibility, high aspect ratio, low thermal expansion coefficient, excellent mechanical strength, and unique optical properties, nanocellulose is utilized to develop various cellulose nanocomposites through solution casting, Layer-by-Layer (LBL) assembly, extrusion, coating, gel-forming, spray drying, electrostatic spinning, adsorption, nanoemulsion, and other techniques, and has been widely used as food packaging material with excellent barrier and mechanical properties, antibacterial activity, and stimuli-responsive performance to improve the food quality and shelf life. Under the driving force of the increasing green food packaging market, nanocellulose production has gradually developed from lab-scale to pilot- or even industrial-scale, mainly in Europe, Africa, and Asia, though developing cost-effective preparation techniques and precisely tuning the physicochemical properties are key to the commercialization. We expect this review to summarise the recent literature in the nanocellulose-based food packaging field and provide the readers with the state-of-the-art of this research area.

Perspective Chapter: Cellulose in Food Production – Principles and Innovations

“…Regarding the progress of cellulose and its derivatives in the food industry, especially packaging, the following should be mentioned [89,90]:…”

Eco-Friendly Cellulose-Based Nonionic Antimicrobial Polymers with Excellent Biocompatibility, Nonleachability, and Polymer Miscibility

“…Cellulose is the most abundant natural biomass polymer, mainly found in cotton, wood, flax, and grass cell walls. , Based on its eco-friendly, nontoxic, inexpensive, renewable, biodegradable, and biocompatible characteristics, cellulose provides a practical solution to the environmental problems associated with the consumption of petroleum-based raw materials (e.g., difficult to degrade, greenhouse gas emissions, difficult to recycle) and can be used in the processing and preparation of antimicrobial polymers. , Due to the presence of a large number of active hydroxyl groups on the chain segments of cellulose molecules, , nonionic antimicrobial polymers with effective antimicrobial functions can be produced by covalently cross-linking small antimicrobial molecules commonly found in nature (curcumin, limonene, aspirin, and indole derivatives) , to the main chain of cellulose molecules. Unlike traditional ionic antimicrobial agents, nonionic antimicrobial agents interact with bacterial cell films through hydrogen-bonding and hydrophobic or dipole–dipole interactions to achieve the inhibition of bacterial population sensing behavior and sustained bactericidal activity. , Indole derivatives are small, nonionic molecules of plant origin that are abundant in nature and household waste.…”

Preparation, Properties and Application in Electrospinning of Tremella Polysaccharide–Protein Complex

“…The prepared nanofiber membrane has excellent properties such as high specific surface area, porosity, permeability, good biocompatibility, and degradability [ 9 ]. At the same time, electrospinning technology is a non-thermal processing technology, which has broad application prospects in food [ 10 ]. However, it is restricted by the viscoelasticity, surface tension, conductivity, and other properties of the raw materials.…”