Green active films/coatings based on seafood by-products (chitosan and gelatin): a powerful tool in food packaging

Waste from the fishing and seafood industries has become a global problem and has increased over the past decade. Waste from the fish and seafood industry mainly refers to the waste and by-products resulting from the processing and storage of fish and marine-based products, resulting in the generation of a large volume of such waste. Many components of basic interest, such as chitosan and gelatin, are often contained in this waste and can be utilized in a multitude of applications, including food packaging. Chitosan and gelatin as natural polymers exhibit excellent characteristics such as edibility, degradability, and film-forming properties and are interesting biomaterials for the development of edible packaging in the food industry. In this review, the main methods of producing green active films/coatings from chitosan and gelatin are examined. The most commonly used method is casting, along with electrospinning and thermoplastic method. The characteristics of the films/coatings resulting from these materials are also analyzed with main emphasis on the characteristics related to the improvement and/or maintenance of food quality, such as mechanical characteristics, barrier characteristics, and optical characteristics. Applications of food packaging from chitosan and gelatin as innovative strategies in the field of biodegradable materials and biopolymers are additionally described. The aim of this review is to highlight the newly developed chitosan/gelatin composite film as an emerging and novel tool in food packaging and the opportunity to substitute the synthetic ones.