Modified Chitosan Films/Coatings for Active Food Packaging

Chitosan (glucosamine) the first derivative of chitin is considered more promising in food packaging due to its versatility in all aspects. Chitosan can easily be modified by chemical reactions, forming composite by incorporating many active components to obtain film/coating. The bio-molecular architecture of chitosan provides excellent properties which are very much essential to active food packaging. This chapter aims to review the application of modified chitosan films/coatings with an emphasis on the structure-property relationship, a crucial component in search for the best composite material as a green substitute for plastics. The future course of research in the area of active food packaging and the significant role of chitosan as an important biomaterial in advanced techniques such as plasma and digitized 3D printing processes have also been highlighted in brief.