Stefanowska Karolina, Woźniak Magdalena, Dobrucka Renata, Ratajczak Izabela
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 75, 60625 Poznań, Poland.
Department of Industrial Products and Packaging Quality, Institute of Quality Science, Poznań University of Economics and Business, al. Niepodległości 10, 61875 Poznań, Poland.
Materials (Basel). 2023 Feb 14;16(4):1579. doi: 10.3390/ma16041579.
Recently, the development of materials based on natural polymers have been observed. This is the result of increasing environmental degradation, as well as increased awareness and consumer expectations. Many industries, especially the packaging industry, face challenges resulting from legal regulations. Chitin is the most common biopolymer right after cellulose and is used to produce chitosan. Due to the properties of chitosan, such as non-toxicity, biocompatibility, as well as antimicrobial properties, chitosan-based materials are used in many industries. Many studies have been conducted to determine the suitability of chitosan materials as food packaging, and their advantages and limitations have been identified. Thanks to the possibility of modifying the chitosan matrix by using natural additives, it is possible to strengthen the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of chitosan films, which means that, in the near future, chitosan-based materials will be a more environmentally friendly alternative to the plastic packaging used so far. The article presents literature data on the most commonly used natural additives, such as essential oils, plant extracts, or polysaccharides, and their effects on antimicrobial, antioxidant, mechanical, barrier, and optical properties. The application of chitosan as a natural biopolymer in food packaging extends the shelf-life of various food products while simultaneously reducing the use of synthetic plastics, which in turn will have a positive impact on the natural environment. However, further research on chitosan and its combinations with various materials is still needed to extent the application of chitosan in food packaging and bring its application to industrial levels.
近年来，基于天然聚合物的材料不断发展。这是环境退化加剧以及人们意识提高和消费者期望增加的结果。许多行业，尤其是包装行业，面临着法律法规带来的挑战。几丁质是仅次于纤维素的最常见生物聚合物，用于生产壳聚糖。由于壳聚糖具有无毒、生物相容性以及抗菌等特性，基于壳聚糖的材料被广泛应用于许多行业。人们已经开展了许多研究来确定壳聚糖材料作为食品包装的适用性，并明确了其优点和局限性。通过使用天然添加剂对壳聚糖基质进行改性，可以增强壳聚糖薄膜的抗氧化和抗菌活性，这意味着在不久的将来，基于壳聚糖的材料将成为迄今为止所用塑料包装的更环保替代品。本文介绍了关于最常用天然添加剂（如精油、植物提取物或多糖）的文献数据，以及它们对抗菌、抗氧化、机械、阻隔和光学性能的影响。壳聚糖作为天然生物聚合物在食品包装中的应用延长了各种食品的保质期，同时减少了合成塑料的使用，这反过来将对自然环境产生积极影响。然而，仍需要对壳聚糖及其与各种材料的组合进行进一步研究，以扩大壳聚糖在食品包装中的应用并使其应用达到工业水平。
