A Review on Present Status and Future Challenges of Starch Based Polymer Films and Their Composites in Food Packaging Applications

In recent years, interest in agro polymers has created great interest among researchers and industry alike, as these materials are found to be biodegradable and eco-friendly. Since the fossil fuel based polymers have created greater environmental concern, these bio-based polymers are addressing the concerns in some of impactful areas such as food packaging and contribute significantly to the sustainable development with minimum ecological problems. Among agro polymers, starch based polymers have made major stride to marketable products in food packaging field. It is estimated that by the year 2020, the biocomposite materials demand will touch 20% of total plastic utilization. This review enlightens various processing techniques used to produce starch based polymers and composites with their properties to address the poor properties of starch. Low toxic and good compatibility natural plasticizers are of great interest in the processing of thermoplastic starch (TPS). Further emphasis is also given on essential packaging film properties such as barrier, biodegradation, mechanical, and thermal properties for TPS based materials. The overview of literature indicates that, Final properties of the thermoplastic starch can be improved by using different fillers, as well as by changing the source of the starch. Since the quest to produce better, cheaper, and eco-friendly materials never stops, a multidisciplinary approach is required to achieve further improvement in the existing materials and to produce new class of materials that are eco-friendly which can extend smarter and efficient services to customers. (C) 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers