ABSTRACT
Packaging materials occupy a prominent place in the market regardless of the goods and commodities. It acts as a direct connection between the opinions of the consumer in connection to the product available for sale. It is estimated that a majority of the polymer-based packaging material is utilized for food packaging. The aspect of food packaging serves a vital role in ensuring food security and food supply chains in remote corners of the world. In view of it, the production of packaging material catapulted during the initial years, as well as the use of petroleum-based packaging materials like plastics. Though plastic materials offer more desirable properties, they end up polluting the environment due to their non-biodegradable nature. Therefore, a current trend is being created by replacing plastic products with biodegradable polymers. Bio-based polymers are obtained from many sources like biomass, microbes, and plant and animal cells. They do not possess good mechanical and morphological stability compared to conventional plastics, but they have a good antibacterial activity that could be enhanced by blending them as composite materials with one or more polymers along with plasticizers. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) occupies a prominent position among the biopolymers due to its easy manufacturing cycle. PHB is a biopolymer synthesized by many microbes, most commonly the Bacillus sp. of bacteria, fungi, and seaweeds. PHB is usually brittle in nature, with a glassy texture, and is biodegradable. The crystallinity of the polymer halts the degradation rate of the synthesized polymer matrix. Recently, blends of PHB, along with other polymers, are used for synthesizing polymer matrix with enhanced properties like increased biodegradability, antimicrobial property, improved mechanical and morphological characteristics. This chapter focuses on both the conventional and bio-based polymers used for packaging, biocomposites, PHBs, blends of PHB, antimicrobial activity of PHB, and PHB in active packaging.
