Pectin and Its Applicability in Food Packaging

Abstract

Food packaging based on plastic films made from nonrenewable resources often causes environmental problems after disposal. Recently, researchers are increasingly focusing on alternative materials to reduce the use of nonbiodegradable and nonrenewable films. Generally, biomaterials are nontoxic, biocompatible, and renewable always presents reasonable film-forming ability. Thus, they are important for food safety, where undesired chemical compounds might migrate from chemicals migrate from the plastic packaging materials into foods. Pectin (PEC), as a natural carbohydrate polymer, belongs to the anionic heteropolysaccharide family and is often extracted from various residues from plant food processing, such as apple and citrus pomaces. The pectin molecules are highly branched with a backbone α-(1–4) linked D galacturonic acid. Among the naturally derived carbohydrate-based biopolymers, pectin was considered a promising substrate in fabricating edible films due to its diverse advantages, such as perfect film-forming ability, evidenced bioactivity, easy availability, and excellent quality biodegradability and biocompatibility, nontoxicity, and low cost. Pectin-based films have excellent oxygen barrier capacity and extend the shelf life for different fruits. The properties of pure pectin films can enhance through combination with other polymers or nanoparticles/fibers.