Recent advances and migration issues in biodegradable polymers from renewable sources for food packaging

In recent years, consumer demand for environmental sustainability and legislative actions has pushed the plastic packagingindustry toward biobased plastics. However, despite the advantages related to their ecofriendly nature, the commercial large-scaleapplication of biobased polymers as substitutes for conventional petroleum-derived plastic as packaging materials have been limitedup to this point because they show limitations in their processability and material properties performances, especially in terms oftheir diffusion-barrier properties to small molecules; these are critical for food-contact uses. The main strategies used to overcomethese issues involve blending with other biopolymers and/or the addition of other substances, such as microfillers, nanofillers, andplasticizers. In this review, we report on the most recent advances and emerging technologies in food-packaging applications thathave potential commercial interest and are based on selected biodegradable polymers from renewable sources. Our particular focus ison issues related to food–packaging interactions and the possible consequent migration of substances.