The commercialisation of biodegradable active food packaging products

Every year more than 350,000 of people die from foodborne illnesses, including 140,000 children under five years old. Salmonella is the causative bacteria in 52,000 cases and E. coli causes 37,000 deaths according to the World Health Organisation.

Paulius Pavelas Danilovas, researcher at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Department of Polymer Chemistry and Technology, is part of a team looking at creating biodegradable food packaging materials made from cellulose composites which will also keep food fresh for longer. This innovation would solve two problems at once: assist in cutting down packaging waste and in reducing the number of foodborne illnesses.

“Food packaging is mainly made from various plastics, which are being produced from non-renewable sources and are non-biodegradable. Also, it is not always possible to recycle them as leftovers from food amount to almost 50% of the packaging waste,” Danilovas said.

The team added various ethereal oils to the cellulose-based film and found that active components of clove oil were effective in tying free radicals and so gave the film antioxidising qualities. This meant that food stayed fresh for longer.

To make the film have antimicrobial properties, ionic silver particles were added to the cellulose-based packaging. Interestingly, the silver particles made the packaging film more elastic and stronger while inhibiting the growth of microorganisms.

Cellulose does not have thermoplastic properties, which presents particular challenges for its use in food packaging. However, the KTU team has found composites, which not only allow cellulose to turn into fluid condition, but also are not toxic.

The production of the packaging prototype has been practically tested in a Lithuanian enterprise.

The modified cellulose packaging degrades in nature in around two years. Commercialisation of the biodegradable active food packaging products is the next goal for the research team.