Polylactic Acid (PLA)‐Based Composites in Food Packaging

Today, polymers are being used as the integral part of packaging as they possess several desired features like stability, resilience, transparency, and ease of production. Polylactic acid (PLA) is highly preferred as it possesses resistance against water vapor as well as biodegradability, thus solving the issue of natural polymeric substances having poor water vapor barrier properties. PLA consists of several lactic acid monomer units, and it can be manufactured easily by the fermentation of carbohydrate feedstock followed by polymerization. In this chapter, PLA production, characterization, and its properties and composites for ideal food packaging are explored. PLA and PLA/chitosan-based packaging composite films can be a better alternative to PE packaging films due to their significant antimicrobial, barrier, and mechanical properties. PLA and PLA-based nanocomposites are biodegradable and environmentally friendly and can be economical, if commercially produced at large scale.