Garavito Johanna, Peña-Venegas Clara P, Castellanos Diego A
Food Packaging and Shelf Life Laboratory, Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carrera 30 Número 45-03, Edificio 500A, Bogotá 111321, Colombia.
Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas-SINCHI, Avenida Vásquez Cobo Calle 15/16, Leticia 910001, Colombia.
Foods. 2024 Dec 18;13(24):4096. doi: 10.3390/foods13244096.
Biodegradable packaging offers an affordable and sustainable solution to global pollution, particularly in developing countries with limited recycling infrastructure. Starch is well suited to develop biodegradable packages for foods due to its wide availability and simple, low-tech production process. Although the development of starch-based packaging is well documented, most studies focus on the laboratory stages of formulation and plasticization, leaving gaps in understanding key phases such as raw material conditioning, industrial-scale molding, post-production processes, and storage. This work evaluates the value chain of starch-based packaging in developing countries. It addresses the challenges, equipment, and process conditions at each stage, highlighting the critical role of moisture resistance in the final product's functionality. A particular focus is placed on replacing single-use plastic packaging, which dominates food industries in regions with agricultural economies and rich biodiversity. A comprehensive analysis of starch-based packaging production, with a detailed understanding of each stage and the overall process, should contribute to the development of more sustainable and scalable solutions, particularly for the replacement of single-use packages, helping to protect vulnerable biodiverse regions from the growing impact of plastic waste.
可生物降解包装为全球污染问题提供了一种经济实惠且可持续的解决方案，尤其是在回收基础设施有限的发展中国家。淀粉因其广泛可得且生产过程简单、技术要求低，非常适合用于开发食品用可生物降解包装。尽管基于淀粉的包装开发已有充分记录，但大多数研究集中在配方和塑化的实验室阶段，在理解诸如原料预处理、工业规模成型、生产后处理和储存等关键阶段方面存在空白。这项工作评估了发展中国家基于淀粉的包装的价值链。它探讨了每个阶段的挑战、设备和工艺条件，强调了防潮在最终产品功能中的关键作用。特别关注的是取代一次性塑料包装，这种包装在农业经济发达且生物多样性丰富的地区主导着食品行业。对基于淀粉的包装生产进行全面分析，详细了解每个阶段和整个过程，应有助于开发更可持续、更具可扩展性的解决方案，特别是用于取代一次性包装，有助于保护脆弱的生物多样性地区免受塑料垃圾日益严重的影响。
