Biodegradable Films for Fruits and Vegetables Packaging Application: Preparation and Properties

Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are highly perishable commodities. Packaging forms an important tool to maintain the shelf life of packed fresh-cut agricultural produce. Petroleum-based films are conventionally used for fresh fruits and vegetables. However, being nonbiodegradable and derivability from nonrenewable resources, these films lead towards serious ecological problems. To address this issue, various efforts have been focused on renewable and biodegradable films obtained from biopolymers. Widely studied biopolymers for film preparation are derived from biomass (gelatin, starch, cellulose, etc.), microbes (polyhydroxyalkanoates), and bio-derived monomers (polylactic acid). However, such films possess poor mechanical and barrier properties as compared to their commercial counterparts. Incorporation of various additives has been proposed to improve the film characteristics. In the present review, comprehensive information has been provided on different methodologies for film fabrication, properties, and applications of stand-alone bio-based films for packaging of fresh-cut produce. Furthermore, successful commercial implementation of such film is also summarized.