by Santosh Kumar, Avik Mukherjee, Vimal Katiyar
This comprehensive book describes the
fundamental principles and major advancements in the utilization of
agro-waste for deriving biopolymers, and their applications to fabricate
composite, nanocomposite, and hybrid food packaging films and coatings.
The
book serves as a complete, systematic, comprehensive account of the
contemporary developments in the area of novel and environment-friendly
valorization of agro- and food wastes into value-added products like
biodegradable polymer and active functional agents for food packaging
applications. It also describes the hurdles and challenges in the
commercialization of these novel biopolymer-based materials, including
their composites, their applications, safety, and legal ramifications.
This
book consists of fifteen chapters covering different aspects of agro-
and food waste utilization, the development of biodegradable polymers,
and their composites for sustainable food packaging applications. The
first thirteen chapters detail the processing of various agro- and food
wastes of plant and animal origin to synthesize different biopolymers,
such as starch, cellulose, chitosan, silk proteins, pectin, etc., and
their applications for the fabrication of sustainable food packaging
materials and composites that are attractive alternatives to synthetic
plastic packaging. These chapters also summarize the effectiveness of
these biopolymers and their composites in developing active films and
edible coatings for shelf-life extension and preservation of perishable
foods.
A chapter is devoted to issues
of biodegradability, including analyses of various biodegradation
reactions, such as depolymerization, mineralization, biochemical, and
abiotic degradation both in soil and aquatic environments. The book
concludes with a chapter addressing the concerns associated with the
possible migration of components or additives from these biodegradable
packaging into packaged food items.
Audience
The
primary audience for this book is researchers, scientists, and
engineers working in food science and technology, food engineering and
technology, food biotechnology, sustainable food packaging, etc.
Additionally, food entrepreneurs and associated businesses, such as the
packaging and coatings industries, will also have a keen interest in the
book.
