Edible, Strong and Water-Repellent of Bacterial Cellulose by Biosynthesis/Physical Modification and Its Potential Application on Food Packaging

The ubiquitous petrochemical-based plastics have caused serious waste pollution in the environment. In the last few decades, scientists have tried to exploit a variety of degradable bio-based polymers to replace plastics and take effort for improving their properties. Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been a spotlight on food packaging, including green route of biosynthesis, low energy purification process and high quality of product with strong mechanical properties¹. However, the high hygroscopicity of such material becomes its major obstacle to be used as food packaging.<br/><br/>Herein, a new strategy for fabricating the edible, strong, translucent, water-repellent, and biodegradable BC-based composite packaging was proposed via biosynthesis, with the help of organic-biobased additive in the culture medium and the alginate-polyol composite as the physical coating. After the modification, a completely edible, non-toxic film with steady, strong mechanical properties in both dry and humid environments can be achieved, further displaying the advancement including large-scale production and simple reaction with low energy-efficient process. All in all, this composite material demonstrates a high potential in contributing to a more environmentally friendly kind of food packaging material and reduces the reliance on the use of plastics.<br/><br/>Reference:<br/>Azeredo, H. M. C., Barud, H., Farinas, C. S., Vasconcellos, V. M., & Claro, A. M. (2019). <i>Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems</i>, 3.