Bionanocomposites films applied as active and smart food packaging: A review

Abstract Food packaging is used worldwide and is a common technique for protecting food safety and quality while increasing shelf life. Environmental issues caused by using polymers in packaging derived from petroleum are becoming more significant and more well‐known. Interest in ecofriendly packaging materials made of renewable resources (biopolymers) has steadily increased, particularly for temporary and throw‐away packaging applications. However, biopolymers frequently have poor processability, poor mechanical, and poor barrier characteristics, restricting their industrial application and scalable manufacturing. Researchers have created bionanocomposites with improved packaging qualities like antibacterial function, mechanical toughness, optical clarity, and gas and water barrier properties to overcome these restrictions. This review seeks to inform readers about recent advances in active food packaging that use biopolymers and bionanocomposite materials. The difficulties and possibilities presented by such resources for the food packaging sector have been examined. This review is timely given the recent spike in interest in research projects both in academia and industry seeking to create a new group of materials for packaging based on biopolymer for food with potential uses elsewhere.