Mechanical and barrier properties of chitosan combined with other components as food packaging film

Chitosan is an alternative to synthetic polymers for food packaging. The mechanical and barrier properties of pure chitosan films are promising. Chitosan properties can be modified by combining chitosan with other components such as plasticizers, other polysaccharides, proteins and lipids. Here we review mechanical and barrier properties of composite films based on chitosan. The major points are: (1) compared with synthetic plastic films, an important limitation of chitosan-based films is their mechanical properties, especially their capacity to elongation; (2) chitosan is a polymer that allows an easy combination with other polysaccharides, plasticizers, proteins and lipids; (3) this allows to develop mixed components and modify the film properties according to the nature of the food to be packaged.