Cellulose-Based Nanostructured Materials in Edible Food Packaging

The current chapter addresses the use of cellulose-based nanostructured materials obtained from several renewable resources (plant fibers, wood, microbes, etc.) for edible food packaging-based emerging techniques. The nanocelluloses having characteristic attributes such as renewability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, tunable surface chemistry, nanodimensions, low cost, and others make it a remarkable candidate to be used in developing edible food packaging. In this regard, the present chapter provides an insight into the use of several cellulose nanoform fabrication methods to obtain tailor-made properties for targeted edible food packaging. It is noteworthy to mention that the addition of nanocellulose for developing biocomposite-based edible food packaging can help to improve the packaging properties such as barrier property, mechanical property, thermal property, optical property, and other physicochemical properties providing an ability in delivering tunable attributes. In this section, the preparation and characterization of various cellulose-based nanostructured materials are discussed with suitability of their applications as a potential candidate in edible food packaging. The approaches utilized to modify the surface of nanocellulose for obtaining better dispersion in the fabrication of polymer composites with required properties are also briefly discussed. Additionally, cellulose nanomaterials are commonly applied in the development of both edible and non-edible food packaging materials for their remarkable properties which can further be modified by varying the forms of nanomaterials such as nanocrystals, nanofibers, and nanowhiskers. The chapter also details various case studies of developing biocomposites using nanocelluloses for design and development of edible packaging materials for perishable food products. The development of edible coating on food products utilizing nanocellulose-based materials is further addressed elaborately.