Starch-Based Nanostructured Materials in Edible Food Packaging

The chapter addresses the prospective of starch nanostructured materials in developing biocomposite-based edible food packaging in the form of edible films and coatings for improved quality of food products. The starch nanomaterials have a strong reinforcing effect, which makes it a promising nanomaterial in edible and non-edible green packaging. Starch bionanomaterials have several attractive features to be used in edible packaging such as biobased source, biocompatible, non-toxic, thickeners, rheology enhancer, film-forming property, water binding capacity, emulsion stabilizing property, foam forming capacity, and others, which make it a promising candidate for food systems. Additionally, the native starch granules consisting of semi-crystalline and amorphous nature are used to develop starch nanocrystals via acid hydrolysis (such as sulfuric acid) by removing the amorphous part. The starch nanocrystal has higher surface area than native starch granules, providing improved packaging property when used as a reinforcing agents. However, the fabrication of starch bionanomaterials via an industrially viable approach is challenging due to the acid waste generation and longer processing time. The limitation of starch includes hydrophilicity, highly prone to retrograde, thermally sensitive, low shear resistance, and others. The strategical modification of starches is obtained via several routes such as cross-linking, chemical modification, physical modification, enzymatic modification, fabrication of biocomposites, etc., for improved functionality. The chapter also details the various aspects of starch and derivatives for developing biocomposites and blends for edible food packaging applications including barrier property, mechanical property, thermal property, color property, and others for prolonging the quality of food products during storage life.