Antimicrobial Biodegradable Polymeric Materials for Food Packaging Applications: Current Status and Future Directions

The production and consumption of non-biodegradable, petroleum-based plastics had an enormous increase in the past few years. Majority of these are used for food packaging. Biodegradable plastics receive much more attraction because they undergo complete degradation without forming any toxic compounds. Nowadays spoilage of food is the main concern faced by food industry. As microbial activity on food surface is the main reason for food spoilage, the integration of antimicrobial agents in biodegradable polymers or the use of biopolymers with inherent antimicrobial property could improve its shelf life. Current review summarizes major findings in the field of antimicrobial polymers, polymer/antimicrobial inorganic composites and polymer/essential oil blends for food packaging applications. India is home to large number of plants having antimicrobial properties. This review also highlights different methods for synthesis of efficient antimicrobial polymer films from these plants in a cost-effective way.