ABSTRACT
The use of plastic packaging in the food market is usually effective in terms of protective barrier exchanges with the environment, microbial challenge, and possible blows during transportation. However, their nonbiodegradability provokes serious problems related to the increasing accumulation of waste in the world, generating great social and economic hardships. The replacement of plastics material by those of rapid degradation as biodegradable polymers with comparative properties and competitive price urged as a necessity and motivated researches on thermoplastic materials based on starch. The main purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of starch-based nanocomposites, with potential use for food packaging summarized in the literature. In this sense, a review of the most important recent investigations of starch films with different types of antimicrobial nanofillers such as chitin, chitosan, silver, and zinc oxide, as well as nanocomposites with essential oil and starch/protein composites, will be presented. In particular, the effect of filler on structure, mechanical properties, and antimicrobial activity against a wide variety of microorganisms will be discussed.
