![\"Biodegradable](\"https:\/\/wizfoodz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Biodegradable-Packaging-edited.jpg\")
We can simply define biodegradable packaging as ” <\/strong>The polymeric materials which are manufactured using biopolymers. They often decompose into carbon dioxide, water, methane, and inorganic compounds. Enzymatic activity of microorganisms supports this process.”[1<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Surely enzymatic activity can be measured through standard tests. But the decomposition process varies depending on the packaging material and the processing conditions. [1<\/a>].[4<\/a>]\n\n\n\n You are well aware of the fact that conventional food packaging materials we use have several drawbacks. However, Most of the drawbacks are relating to environmental conditions Especially pollution.[3<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Obviously the most possible reason can be the raw materials.They are made of ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Particularly you know that the above materials are synthetic matter. And clearly they have a very low biodegradability. This directly affects the environment.[2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Clearly Plastic is the main conventional packaging material responsible for many harmful effects. Even so, manufacturers produce these packaging materials for specialized applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People are well aware of the harmful effects of traditional packaging. They have issues with regard to ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Despite these issues people still use them. This is Because of their high availability and convenience.[2<\/a>] [3<\/a>] [5<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Now let’s look into the composition.No doubt that conventional packaging materials have complex structures.[1<\/a>] They comprise of,<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s obvious because they have complex chemical compositions. Moreover, it becomes more difficult as most of them have long-chain polymer molecules. This is why they are difficult to recycle.[7<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Do you know the current status of annual plastic material consumption?? In the world, it is approximately 230 million tonnes<\/strong>. It has been increased four times within the past 70 years. [6<\/a>]\n\n\n\n However, you should know that only about 5% of plastic<\/strong> materials can be recycled. Therefore now this is a growing problem. [3<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Definitely, All the above factors are good reasons for society to think about new alternatives. Nevertheless, those alternatives should be environmentally friendly too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That is how the biodegradable packaging concept come into existence!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clearly different products have different requirements. So it’s obvious that packaging material and form should be different. These forms include,[3<\/a>]\n\n\n\n More frequently Gels are used as coating agents on fruits as well as vegetables. Usually, they are hydrogels. You can use them to avoid contamination of microbes. And also, they can protect beta-carotene content in some fruits.[2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Apart from that, In maintaining antioxidant levels of perishables, some gels have special effects. Obviously, Certain biodegradable films act as good biodegradable gels with the extract of the ginseng plant.[2<\/a>][3<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Contrary to the above facts, in some cases, hydrogels can reduce the shelf life of the product. This happens as a result of the migrating of water. This is because they attract water molecules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, Films are also produced from renewable materials. Can be prepared using polysaccharide, protein, or lipid materials. For manufacturers, it is important that these materials be food grade and increase shelf life clearly ensuring safety is also important.[2<\/a>] <\/p>\n\n\n\n Especially they need polymers with moisture-resistant and oxygen barrier properties. Because they can use them for wrapping perishables and for sealing food containers.[10<\/a>][11]\n\n\n\n And also they are better at preventing microbial contamination of fruist. These films have desirable effects on increasing shelf life. [13<\/a>]\n\n\n\n vanilla impregnated Methylcellulose <\/em>has antimicrobial effects on yeast and Escherichia coli.[2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n A results of a study on Biodegradable film for meat<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously Corn is a highly available plant around the world. There is a bio-polystyrene obtained from corn. Easily you can use them to produce biodegradable boxes. [2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Usually, they biodegrade after about 7 weeks. And also they release no harmful matter to the environment . Indeed this is why they are very much suitable for future packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definitely a PLA Box can maintain the quality of fruits at a temperature range of 10 to 230<\/sup>C.[2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n And also They have high strength and resistant property to breakage. Clearly they are excellent materials for biodegradable packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surely you can buy biodegradable trays from the market now.Especially use them to store fruits and vegetables. Most of them are made of the plant pulps. But they have a brittle texture.[2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n No doubt These polymers are extracted from living sources. They include plants, animals, and sometimes marine sources. And also they are less costly. Therefore produce excellent packaging materials at a low cost.[1<\/a>][2<\/a>][14]\n\n\n\n However, there are some natural sources with better cost-effectiveness and availability compared to others. polymers from potato and corn are one of the examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly you have to obtain starch molecules. For that heating is necessary. Then you can process them further to get the final shape. This processing is done in different ways. [2<\/a>][16<\/a>] [23]\n\n\n\n Very frequently Manufacturers form them into bags, trays, sacks, or any other packages. The specialty is they are nearly 100 percent biodegradable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from potato and corn, you can use rice and wheat flour which have the same properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here especially you can use vegetable proteins to extract polymers from beans. After extracting polymers you can use these polymers to produce packaging materials.The main types of vegetable proteins focusing in here are,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Especially the biofilms of soy protein are moisture sensitive and have less strength. Conversely, some recent experiments found that these biofilms can be developed. They have better properties when used with carrageenan and glycerol.[2<\/a>] [3<\/a>][25<\/a>]\n\n\n\n The bamboo tree has a high growth rate. Furthermore, it contains a huge percentage of cellulose making it easy to obtain cellulose. This polymer can be used to form different forms of packaging.[17<\/a>][18<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Manufacturers use cellulose for producing papers. They are most frequently used for packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, You can produce the biopolymer ‘cellulose acetate’ if you try. You need cotton and flax for this.Indeed, according to experimental studies, it is not an easy method. Unlike cotton linters, Flax fibers give a high fraction of cellulose acetate.So if you are going to produce cellulose acetate better to use flax fibers[1<\/a>][2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Particularly This is done by a well-controlled acetylation <\/strong>process with sulfuric acid. Along with that various laboratories, instrumental techniques are also required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Particularly the chemical synthesis allows you to get a huge range of biopolyesters. So That is a fascinating factor when considering the industrial production of these biomaterials. [2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Definitely many of the available packaging materials can be replaced with these monomers. The most popular biopolymer group belonging to this category is Polylactic acid (PLA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a linear polyester. It also have similar properties of polystyrene. Unlike polystyrene, PLA has the ability of biodegrading. This is the main difference. Especially To produce PLA on an industrial basis you should use fermentation.[2<\/a>][3<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Clearly a carbohydrate source is essential. For the carbohydrate source,especially they use starch or glucose from wheat, corn, or molasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How these polymers are produced??<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two monomers involved in here are lactide and lactic acid .You can use two methods here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, This is the most common and most simple procedure for producing PLA. Here lactide is subjected to polymerization. Not only that it needs the metal catalysts. They do catalyzing step in a suspension or a solution to complete the process.[3<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Unlike the above process, this is a condensation process. The main principle here is monomers of lactic acid are directly condensing. Be careful to do It under a temperature of less than 2000<\/sup>C. Otherwise, it will form molecules of lower molecular weight. [3<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Most importantly this condensation is done stepwise. Because It is important to produce PLA accurately. First lactic acids oligomerize PLA. Secondly condensation takes place by combining oligomer units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually you can convert this polymer into,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surely this is an interesting section as GMOs are involved. Bacteria use energy sources and carbon reserves of Most of these kinds of polymers. Following are the group of biodegradable polymers produced using this method.[3<\/a>]\n\n\n\n You can produce a large variety of biopolymers in this process. That is The most important thing.This is done by fermentation of microbes. Especially PHA- polymerase enzyme is very productive in catalyzing this polymerization process.[2<\/a>]\n\n\n\n Furthermore, this is a kind of biochemical synthesis. And also It Happens within a cell with the aid of enzymes. However, there is an important factor that should be taken into consideration.[20<\/a>]\n\n\n\n The textural properties of these polymers change with bacteria type and the carbon source. So it is important that you choose the correct bacteria type and sources of carbon to produce different packages. The texture varies from brittle form to rubber-like form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Why biodegradable packaging???<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2.1 <\/em>Raw materials of traditional packaging<\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"tomato](\"https:\/\/wizfoodz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Fruit-packaging-edited.jpg\")
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2.2 Harm to the environment<\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Harmful](\"https:\/\/wizfoodz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/environmental-protection-plastic-waste-arable-potato-arable-earth-earth-edited.jpg\")
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2.3 Complex composition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Polythene](\"https:\/\/wizfoodz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/3-s2.0-B9780081009574000048-f04-01-9780081009574-1.jpg\")
2.4 Why recycling is difficult??<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2.5 Current usage in society<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. In which forms biodegradable packaging exists??<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"forms](\"https:\/\/wizfoodz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/forms-of-biodegradable-packaging-edited.jpg\")
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3.1 Biodegradable Gels<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Wax](\"https:\/\/wizfoodz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/plums-1573004_1280-1-edited.jpg\")
3.2 Biodegradable Films<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Biodegradable](\"https:\/\/wizfoodz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Biodegradable-Films-edited.jpg\")
Example: <\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
3.21 Special properties<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Example: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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3.3 Biodegradable Boxes<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Example: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
3.4 Biodegradable Trays<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. The types of<\/em> Bio degradable -polymer materials??<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4.1 Biodegradable Polymers from biomass<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4.11 Potato and corn<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
4.12 Chick beans and soy beans<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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4.13 Bamboo<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
4.14 Cotton linters and Flax fibers <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
4.2 Biodegradable packaging Polymers from chemical synthesis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4.21 Polylactic acid (PLA)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Method 01<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Method 02<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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4.3 Biodegradable packaging from GMO (Genetically modified Organisms) or natural organisms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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4.31 How can you produce PHA <\/strong>??<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
4.32 How can you produce PHB<\/strong> ??<\/h4>\n\n\n\n