Bacterial cellulose as a biodegradable food packaging material: A review

The relevant presence of food packaging in our society is due to its role in food preservation and minimizing food waste along the distribution chain. However, the high consumption of packages has entailed a large waste production. The main materials employed for food packaging are high, low and very low-density polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and polypropylene. They are non-biodegradable and with several limitations that hinder their recycling. Biodegradable polymers from natural resources are a potential raw material to develop novel food packaging materials. Among the natural polymeric materials, cellulose of bacterial origin is a material with extraordinary and differentiated properties from other polysaccharide-based polymers that is gaining special interest for applications in the Food Industry. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the main properties of bacterial cellulose for the development of films for food packaging and to collect the current knowledge of the uses for food packaging. [Display omitted] •Bacterial cellulose films could be an alternative to synthetic packaging films.•Bacterial cellulose fibers or nanocrystals are promising.•The most studies were focused on his properties for biomedicine.•Further studies are needed to evaluate applications for food packaging.