Abstract

UTILIZATION OF FRUIT WASTE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BIODEGRADABLE FOOD PACKAGING MATERIALS; AND CHALLENGES INVOLVED

Kopal Khanna*, Avadhoot Deshpande and Umang Ahlawat

ABSTRACT

Biodegradable packaging has emerged as a boon in the packaging industry. It is ecofriendly, biodegradable and in most of the cases compostable in nature. With the advancement in technology, it has a great potential of replacing and completely eradicating petroleum derived polymers as a packaging material, along with steep reduction in the negative environmental impact caused by the excessive use of these polymers and other non biodegradable materials used as packaging. Biodegradable packaging materials based on the utilization of agricultural wastes such as fruit by-products could aid in the substantial reduction of the load of fruit waste management as well as in increased shelf-life of foods contained within due to antioxidant, antimicrobial, preservative, mechanical, thermal, and nutraceutical properties of the fruit waste integrated packaging. However the unawareness and lack of suitable resources has led to tons of fruit wastage every year globally. This review paper highlights the problems of wastage of fruit by-products, its waste management and aims to provide critical information about the careful utilization of fruit waste for the development of biodegradable packaging material, and the challenges faced.

Keywords: Biodegradable packaging, fruit by-product, utilization, waste management.