Natural Polymeric Materials: A Solution to Plastic Pollution from the Agro-Food Sector

Abstract

Conventional petroleum-derived plastics represent a serious problem for global pollution because, when discarded in the environment, are believed to remain for hundreds of years. In order to reduce dependence on fossil resources, bioplastic materials are being proposed as safer alternatives. Bioplastics are bio-based and/or biodegradable materials, typically derived from renewable sources. Food waste as feedstock represents one of the recent applications in the research field of bioplastics production. To date, several food wastes have been used as raw materials for the production of bioplastics, including mostly fruit and vegetable wastes. The conversion of fruit and vegetable wastes into biomaterials could occur through simple or more complex processes. In some cases, biopolymers extracted from raw biomass are directly manufactured; on the other hand, the extracted biopolymers could be reinforced or used as reinforcing agents and/or natural fillers in order to obtain biocomposites. The present review covers available results on the application of methods used in the last 10 years for the design of biomaterials obtained from formulations made up with both fruits and vegetables by-products. Particular attention will be addressed to the waste pre-treatment, to the bioplastic formulation and to its processing, as well as to the mechanical and physical properties of the obtained materials.

Analytical Methods for Extraction and Identification of Primary and Secondary Metabolites of Apple (Malus domestica) Fruits: A Review

“…Spectrophotometric assays have been largely used for the rough quantification of polyphenols and flavonoids. In the last decade, there has been an increasing request of more reliable and accurate analytical methods, with reduced operational time and costs, as well as with minimized use of hazardous chemicals [82][83][84][85], according to the green chemistry objectives [86]. The most common analytical methods used for the detection and/or quantification of the main classes of apples phytochemicals are the chromatographic ones.…”

Extraction and Characterization of Potential Biodegradable Materials Based on Dioscorea hispida Tubers

“…Recent studies have developed the abilities of other fibres to use in polymer composites, such as oil palm, sugarcane, roselle, kenaf, ginger, and bamboo [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. The advances in implementing the methods used for biomaterial design focus on those derived from formulations based on fruit and vegetable by-products [28,29].…”

PLA-Based Materials Containing Bio-Plasticizers and Chitosan Modified with Rosehip Seed Oil for Ecological Packaging

“…These limitations occur due to the fact that chitosan is a naturally hydrophilic polymer, while PLA is hydrophobic. The elastic properties of chitosan could be improved by its plasticization with PEG [ 29 ], some resulting materials being stable until nine weeks of storage, as observed by Caner et al [ 30 ]. Butnaru et al [ 31 ] reported the preparation of films based on chitosan and cold-pressed rosehip seed oil by the encapsulation emulsion method.…”