Active and smart biodegradable packaging based on starch and natural extracts

•Active and smart biodegradable films from starch and natural extracts were developed.•The films with the extracts, green tea and basil, showed high antioxidant activity.•Films changed the color at different pH, resulting great indicators of food quality.•Starch-natural extract showed faster biodegradability and high thermal degradation. Active and smart biodegradable films from cassava starch and glycerol with 5wt.% of different natural extracts such as green tea and basil were obtained by casting. Their functional capacity as antioxidants and their physicochemical properties achieved from the incorporation of these types of extracts were evaluated. The content of phenolic compounds in the extracts led to films with significant antioxidant activity, being greater in the case of the system containing green tea extract. Color changes in both materials after immersion in different media (acid and basic) due to the presence of chlorophyll and carotenoids in the extracts were observed, but the film with basil extract reacted most notably to the different pH. These films degraded in soil under two weeks and were thermal stable up to 240°C. Finally, the incorporation of extracts of green tea and basil led to thermoplastic starch films with lower water vapor permeability retaining their flexibility.