Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Recent Applications of Biopolymers Derived from Fish Industry Waste in Food Packaging

This review summarized recent advances in producing biopolymers — including collagen, gelatin, chitin, and chitosan — from fish industry by-products and their applications in food packaging, highlighting both the environmental benefits and the technical challenges of scaling up such processes.

2021 Polymers 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine Biopolymers: Applications in Food Packaging

This review examined the use of marine-derived biopolymers such as proteins and polysaccharides for food packaging applications. The study suggests that these biodegradable materials could significantly reduce reliance on conventional plastic packaging, offering environmental and economic benefits while improving the shelf life of packaged foods.

2021 Processes 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Biopolymer from Marine Waste Biomass and Its Applications- A Review

This review examines biopolymers derived from marine waste biomass — including chitin, carrageenan, and alginate — as biodegradable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics, highlighting their environmental benefits and potential applications across multiple industries.

2023 Journal Of Biochemical Technology 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the Role of Chitosan in Fabricating Biodegradable Films for Functional Food Packaging: A Review

This review examines the use of chitosan — a biopolymer derived from crustacean shells — in fabricating biodegradable food packaging films, evaluating its mechanical, antimicrobial, and barrier properties as a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics.

2023 Journal of Young Pharmacists 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Chitosan as a sustainable alternative for fresh food packaging: Structural insights, modification strategies, and innovations for commercial viability

Researchers reviewed how chitosan — a natural biopolymer derived from crustacean shells — can serve as a biodegradable alternative to single-use plastic food packaging, detailing chemical modification strategies, nanocomposite reinforcement approaches, and recent advances in antimicrobial and antioxidant performance that improve its commercial viability.

2025 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Chitosan with Natural Additives as a Potential Food Packaging

Researchers reviewed the potential of chitosan, a natural polymer derived from chitin, as a sustainable alternative to conventional plastic food packaging. Chitosan-based materials combined with natural additives show promising antimicrobial and biocompatible properties while being biodegradable. The study suggests these materials could help reduce plastic packaging waste and the associated microplastic pollution from food industry sources.

2023 Materials 53 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental and Economic Viability of Chitosan Production in Guayas-Ecuador: A Robust Investment and Life Cycle Analysis

Researchers evaluated the environmental and economic feasibility of producing chitosan, a biopolymer derived from shrimp shell waste, in Ecuador. They found that the process is financially viable and offers environmental benefits compared to disposing of shrimp waste, which is generated in enormous quantities by Ecuador's shrimp industry. The study suggests that converting seafood processing waste into valuable biopolymers could reduce both pollution and dependence on petroleum-based plastics.

2021 ACS Omega 120 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Food packaging based on biodegradable polymers from seaweeds: a systematic review

This systematic review examines the use of seaweed-based biodegradable polymers as alternatives to conventional plastic food packaging. The research explores how seaweed materials can provide effective food packaging while breaking down naturally in the environment. Replacing petroleum-based plastics with biodegradable alternatives is one strategy for reducing the microplastic pollution that enters our food and water.

2024 BIO Web of Conferences 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Eco-Friendly Biopolymers Shaping Sustainable Food Packaging

This review examines seaweed-derived biopolymers—particularly alginates and carrageenans—as materials for sustainable food packaging, covering their properties, processing methods, and performance as barriers to moisture and gases. It evaluates their potential to replace petroleum-based plastics and their degradation profiles under real-world conditions.

2025
Article Tier 2

Valorization of Seafood Processing Byproducts for Sustainable Fertilization: Opportunities and Food Safety Considerations in Agriculture 4.0

This review explores the potential of using seafood processing waste — fish offal, shellfish shells, and aquaculture effluents — as natural fertilizers in modern farming systems. While these byproducts are rich in nutrients and could reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers, the paper also flags important food safety concerns, including the presence of microplastics in marine-derived materials that could be introduced to agricultural soils. The authors conclude that seafood-derived fertilizers are promising for circular agriculture, but careful screening for contaminants including microplastics is essential before widespread adoption.

2026 Sustainability
Article Tier 2

An Overview of the Alternative Use of Seaweeds to Produce Safe and Sustainable Bio-Packaging

This review explores how compounds derived from seaweed, particularly polysaccharides like alginates and carrageenans, can be used to create biodegradable packaging as an alternative to conventional plastics. Researchers found that seaweed-based biopolymers offer both functional packaging properties and potential health benefits, while avoiding the microplastic pollution caused by petroleum-based plastics. The approach represents a promising step toward reducing ocean plastic contamination by replacing single-use plastics with marine-sourced biodegradable materials.

2022 Applied Sciences 102 citations
Article Tier 2

The Blue Economy's Biopolymers: Using Marine Biomass to Develop Sustainable Polymers—Overview

This review explores the potential of marine biomass-derived biopolymers — including polysaccharides, chitin, and collagen — as sustainable, biodegradable substitutes for fossil-fuel-derived plastics within the blue economy framework. The authors describe extraction methods achieving 20-30% yields for alginate and 15-25% for chitin, and discuss how nanotechnology enables improved processing and performance of these marine biopolymers.

2025 Biopolymers
Article Tier 2

Sustainable biomaterials based on cellulose, chitin and chitosan composites - A review

Researchers reviewed advances in making sustainable composite materials from cellulose, chitin, and chitosan — abundant natural polymers found in plants and shellfish — as biodegradable alternatives to synthetic plastics that contribute to microplastic pollution. The review covers how these biopolymers can be dissolved and combined into fibers, films, and gels for a wide range of environmentally friendly applications.

2021 Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications 117 citations
Article Tier 2

Agro-Food Waste Valorization for Sustainable Bio-Based Packaging

This review examines how waste from food processing can be repurposed into biodegradable packaging materials as an alternative to conventional plastics. Researchers have developed films and coatings from fruit peels, grain husks, and other agricultural byproducts, though most solutions remain at the laboratory stage. Replacing traditional plastic packaging with these bio-based alternatives could help reduce the generation of microplastics that contaminate food and water supplies.

2024 Journal of Composites Science 52 citations
Article Tier 2

Mollusk shells as marine bioactive materials: Composition, bioactivities, and prospects for food and health applications

Researchers reviewed the bioactive properties of marine mollusk shells, which are generated in large quantities as seafood processing waste. They found that shell-derived compounds exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and bone-building properties, supporting potential uses as natural calcium sources and functional food ingredients. The study highlights an opportunity to turn an abundant waste material into valuable health and food science applications.

2026 iScience 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable biopolymers for active packaging: demand, development and directions

This review examines how biodegradable biopolymers can be used for active food packaging, addressing both plastic waste and food waste challenges while meeting industry demand for sustainable packaging solutions.

2022 Sustainable Food Technology 172 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of advancements in chitosan-essential oil composite films: Better and sustainable food preservation with biodegradable packaging

This review covers how films made from chitosan (a natural material from shellfish) combined with essential oils are being developed as biodegradable food packaging to replace conventional plastics. By reducing reliance on plastic packaging, these alternatives could help decrease the amount of microplastics that migrate into food and are ultimately consumed by people.

2024 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable Packaging Materials for Foods Preservation: Sources, Advantages, Limitations, and Future Perspectives

This review examines biodegradable packaging materials derived from natural sources as alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics for food preservation. Researchers found that materials made from polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids can effectively extend food shelf life while being more environmentally friendly. The study acknowledges that cost and performance limitations remain, but highlights recent advances in combining these natural materials with antimicrobial and antioxidant agents to improve their practical viability.

2023 Coatings 87 citations
Article Tier 2

Seaweed-based films for sustainable food packaging: properties, incorporation of essential oils, applications, and future directions

This review analyzed seaweed-based films for sustainable food packaging, covering their mechanical and barrier properties, the incorporation of essential oils for antimicrobial activity, and applications across different food commodities.

2023 Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Research progress of biomass-based food packaging materials

This review examines biomass-based food packaging materials — including starch, cellulose, proteins, and chitosan — as renewable and biodegradable alternatives to petroleum-based packaging, discussing development strategies to address current shortcomings in environmental performance, food safety, and functional diversity in the context of growing global microplastic pollution from packaging.

2025 SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología
Article Tier 2

Bio Polymers to Save Human Health and Environment: Chitin and Lignin

This review examines chitin and lignin as bio-based polymer alternatives derived from food and agro-forestry byproducts that could reduce plastic waste within a circular green economy framework. The authors discuss how nano-sized versions of these natural polymers can be used to produce biodegradable products, smart tissues mimicking extracellular matrix structure, and sustainable packaging for medical and cosmetic applications.

2022 Journal of Biomedical Research & Environmental Sciences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Eco-friendly and safe alternatives for the valorization of shrimp farming waste

Researchers reviewed eco-friendly bioconversion strategies for valorizing shrimp farming waste — shells, heads, and wastewater — into high-value products including chitin, carotenoids, bio-nanomaterials, and nutraceuticals, arguing that microbial fermentation and enzymatic processing offer safer, more sustainable alternatives to chemical extraction methods.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Valorization and Application of Fruit and Vegetable Wastes and By-Products for Food Packaging Materials

This review summarized recent research on converting fruit and vegetable processing waste into biopolymer-based food packaging materials, covering extraction of pectin, cellulose, and starch from by-products and their performance as biodegradable packaging films.

2021 Molecules 118 citations
Article Tier 2

Biomimetic Design of Biodegradable Polymer Films for Sustainable Food Packaging: Integrating Indigenous Material Wisdom with Modern Chemistry

This paper is not primarily about microplastic pollution; it describes the development of biodegradable food packaging films from biopolymers like chitosan and alginate as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastics, with the goal of preventing microplastic generation at the source rather than studying existing contamination.

2026 International Journal of Applied and Behavioral Sciences