Recent advances in biopolymer-based antibacterial food packaging with natural antimicrobial agents.
- 1College of Advanced Materials and Future Technology, Beijing Technology and Business University Beijing 100048 China [email protected] [email protected].
Abstract
The growing emphasis on environmental protection, together with plastic-restriction policies and dual-carbon goals, has driven the food packaging industry to replace non-degradable petrochemical polymers with renewable bio-based materials such as cellulose, starch, and chitosan. Incorporating natural antimicrobials into biodegradable polymer matrices offers a promising strategy to develop active packaging that inhibits microbial growth, ensures food safety, and extends shelf life. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in antibacterial food packaging based on biopolymers incorporated with natural antimicrobial agents, which are classified as plant-derived (spices, herbs, and essential oils), animal-derived (chitosan, lysozyme, lactoferrin, and lactoperoxidase), and microbial-derived (bacteriocins, nisin, bacteriophages, reuterin, and pediocin) agents. Their antimicrobial mechanisms and packaging applications are elaborated, alongside four typical antibacterial packaging strategies. Notably, chitosan, starch and sodium alginate are promising matrices for chemical modification; cross-linking, grafting and esterification can improve matrix-agent interfacial compatibility to tailor active-compound release kinetics. Finally, the remaining challenges, including matrix-agent compatibility, migration of active agents, and safety concerns, as well as future directions toward industrial-scale application, are highlighted. This review provides a comprehensive reference for developing natural antimicrobial food packaging to reduce environmental pollution while improving food quality and safety.
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BibTeX
@article{du2026recent,
title = {{Recent advances in biopolymer-based antibacterial food packaging with natural antimicrobial agents.}},
author = {Ertao Du and Yushuo Yang and Yuewei Xi and Yunxuan Weng},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra08017k},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910021},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Recent advances in biopolymer-based antibacterial food packaging with natural antimicrobial agents.
AU - Ertao Du
AU - Yushuo Yang
AU - Yuewei Xi
AU - Yunxuan Weng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra08017k
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910021
AB - The growing emphasis on environmental protection, together with plastic-restriction policies and dual-carbon goals, has driven the food packaging industry to replace non-degradable petrochemical polymers with renewable bio-based materials such as cellulose, starch, and chitosan. Incorporating natural antimicrobials into biodegradable polymer matrices offers a promising strategy to develop active packaging that inhibits microbial growth, ensures food safety, and extends shelf life. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in antibacterial food packaging based on biopolymers incorporated with natural antimicrobial agents, which are classified as plant-derived (spices, herbs, and essential oils), animal-derived (chitosan, lysozyme, lactoferrin, and lactoperoxidase), and microbial-derived (bacteriocins, nisin, bacteriophages, reuterin, and pediocin) agents. Their antimicrobial mechanisms and packaging applications are elaborated, alongside four typical antibacterial packaging strategies. Notably, chitosan, starch and sodium alginate are promising matrices for chemical modification; cross-linking, grafting and esterification can improve matrix-agent interfacial compatibility to tailor active-compound release kinetics. Finally, the remaining challenges, including matrix-agent compatibility, migration of active agents, and safety concerns, as well as future directions toward industrial-scale application, are highlighted. This review provides a comprehensive reference for developing natural antimicrobial food packaging to reduce environmental pollution while improving food quality and safety.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -