A comprehensive review on chitosan based bionanocomposites: Enormous potential for biodegradable food packaging applications of future

Recently, the advancement of nanotechnology is focused to fabricate innovative packaging, as it is solely responsible for the protection, preservation and presentation of the food product. Plastic or petroleum-based polymer packages are commercially popular because of their low cost, good barrier and mechanical properties. Since the last decade, a significant amount of research has been devoted to evaluating various bio-based polymers to replace plastic-based packaging for their negative impact on the environment for the generation of solid waste and depletion of fossil fuel reserves. Biopolymers are very similar to synthetic polymer’s structure and characteristics, additionally, they are biodegradable and available from renewable resources. Chitosan is the world’s second most abundantly available polysaccharide biopolymer and the most abundant biopolymer of animal origin. Biodegradability, non-toxicity, excellent film-forming ability and inherent antimicrobial activity make chitosan a potential candidate to be applicable in food packaging industries. Chitosan being a sea-food industry waste when transformed into a new product, encourages industrial symbiosis, which can be implicated for sustainability. However, chitosan poses some limitations, such as low mechanical strength and low water resistance, that can be enhanced with the addition of other polymers, nanoparticles, nanoclays etc. This review aims to summarize the knowledge and update the information about recent research trends and developments about chitosan-based biodegradable nanocomposites coating and films to wrap fresh perishables for their prolonged shelf life. The article extensively explores the research to analyze advancement in achievements of mechanical, barrier and antimicrobial properties.