ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the different biopolymer materials and reinforced nanomaterials with a view to make them feasible material for food packaging application. The packaging of food products plays an important role, and absence of it can lead to fast deterioration of quality and safety of food products, which paves the way to massive commercial losses of valuable foodstuffs. Chitosan is manufactured primarily from crustaceans because a significant amount of the crustacean exoskeleton is available as a by-product of food processing. Unique properties such as biodegradability, non-toxicity, biocompatibility, film-forming property, and similar mechanical properties of medium-chain commercial polymers have made chitosan one of the most commonly explored biopolymers in food packaging industries. Cellulose is the most abundant linear polysaccharide made of repeating monomers of anhydrous glucose linked via a ß-1,4 glycosidic bond called cellobiose. Based on number of dimensions, nanoreinforcements can be divided into three categories: nanolayers, nanotubes/nanowhiskers, and nanoparticles; whereas based on geometry, nanoreinforcements can be layered and spherical.
