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The Use of Chitosan in Food Packaging Applications

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Green Biopolymers and their Nanocomposites

Part of the book series: Materials Horizons: From Nature to Nanomaterials ((MHFNN))

Abstract

Chitosan (1, 4-linked 2-amino-deoxy-β-D-glucan) is obtained by the chitin deacetylation; after cellulose, it is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature. Chitosan is non-toxic, biocompatible, biodegradable, and susceptible to chemical modifications and exhibits good antimicrobial properties against fungi, bacteria, and yeast. Chitosan also exhibits improved gas barrier property and water permeability; therefore, chitosan is regarded as an eco-friendly food packaging material which could be an excellent alternative to synthetic polymer-based packaging material. However, the major drawback of pure chitosan is their reduced mechanical and thermal properties, solubility only in acidic solutions, and loss of antibacterial activity at pH > 6.5, which limits its application. To eliminate these problems, chitosan is usually blended with polymers like cellulose, nanocellulose, starch, montmorillonite, gelatin. This chapter gives an overview of the chitosan polymers, its properties, and the ability to be used in food packaging industry.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Process Engineering, School of Bio-engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, India

    Reshma B. Nambiar, Periyar Selvam Sellamuthu & Anand Babu Perumal

  2. Department of Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Institute of Nano-Engineering Research (INER), Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa

    Emmanuel Rotimi Sadiku & O. A. Adeyeye

Authors
  1. Reshma B. Nambiar
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  2. Periyar Selvam Sellamuthu
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  3. Anand Babu Perumal
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  4. Emmanuel Rotimi Sadiku
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  5. O. A. Adeyeye
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Reshma B. Nambiar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dielectric Materials Division, Central Power Research Institute, Bengaluru, India

    Dhorali Gnanasekaran

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Nambiar, R.B., Sellamuthu, P.S., Perumal, A.B., Sadiku, E.R., Adeyeye, O.A. (2019). The Use of Chitosan in Food Packaging Applications. In: Gnanasekaran, D. (eds) Green Biopolymers and their Nanocomposites. Materials Horizons: From Nature to Nanomaterials. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8063-1_5

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