Production and applications of bio-based packaging materials for the food industry

C. J. Weber, V. Haugaard, R. Festersen & G. Bertelsen

Presented by: Apoorva Gupta M.Tech Food Biotechnology (I)

Introduction
Biobased

sources

packaging derived from renewable

21st

century from petroleum derived sources to naturally derived sources concerns

Environmental Currently,

food packaging materials are petroleum based plastics, metals, glass, paper etc. used commercially on a major scale - Biodegradable or not?

Cellulose Biobased

Bio-based materials

Type I Polymers directly extracted from biomass

Extracted mainly from marine or agricultural products Drawback hydrophilic nature Advantage excellent gas barrier properties

Type II - Polymers produced by classical chemical synthesis using bio-based monomers

Classic

chemical synthesis biopolyesters

Highest

potential for commercial scale production PLA (poly-lactic acid) water vapour barrier low gas transmittance - agricultural resources, e.g. corn or - agricultural waste products, such

Good

Relatively Feedstock

wheat,

Type III Polymers produced by natural or genetically modified microbes

 PHA produced by many bacterial species in the

form of intracellular particles Function as an energy and carbon reserve material Renewable, bio-degradable, biocompatible, optically active polyesters Functional groups present in the side chains of the polymer makes it possible to modify the polymer chemically
Bacterial

cellulose - Acetobacter xylinum and A. pasteurianus produce an almost pure form of cellulose (homobeta-1,4-glucan) Its chemical and physical structure is identical to the cellulose formed in plants

Bio-based packaging
Properties -

to be considered in relation to food distribution : gas and water vapour permeability, mechanical properties & Sealing capability, thermoforming properties, resistance (towards water, grease, acid, UV light, etc.), machinability (on the packaging line), transparency, printability, availability, Costs `cradle to grave cycle

 No

single bio-based material can satisfy all potential markets or applications a growing interest is seen in developing packaging concepts consisting of multilayer biobased materials Oftenly used laminate outer layer of ethylenevinyl alcohol (EVOH) or polyamide (PA) combined with LDPE An equivalent bio-based laminate - a gas barrier material consisting of either plasticized chitosan, a protein or a starch-derived film

Therefore,

Potential food applications

Market

of biobased food-packaging materials niche markets not a driving force :

Cost

Applications 1. -

Fruits & vegetables The ratio between oxygen and carbon dioxide transmittance of most synthetic plastics is 1:4 For some bio-based materials, the same ratio is 1:30 or more For packaging of high-respiring fruits and

2. Cheese - Respiring - releases carbon dioxide during storage - Thus, packaging material must have a relatively high carbon-dioxide transmittance rate to avoid inflation of the packages - PHA and PLA or combination of different materials can be employed 3. Short term storage 4. Chilled or frozen products PLA & PHA 5. Containers for non-carbonated beverages - PLA & PHA as containers e.g. bottles, cups, cartons - Or as coatings on cardboard cartons for milk, juice etc.

Conclusion
Cellulose Rapid

the only widely used bio-based material

development - starch-based packaging for pasta (Italy) and PLA-based pots for yoghurt (Germany) too high therefore bio-based materials will have to compete on the performance and will have to have an extra added value development of a bio-based cheese packaging material (`Biopack), an EU project project - (`Greenfoam) focusses on the use of starch-based materials for the production of a 100% biodegradable , thermo-insulating foam-packaging material to be used in fast food restaurants for food, ice

Cost

E.g.

Craft

Fig.: Some commercial bio-based packagings