Natural Polysaccharides: Chitin, Chitosan, Pectin and Gums

Dear Colleagues,

Natural polysaccharides such as chitin, chitosan, pectin and gums are abundant and are widely distributed in the natural world. Thus, compostable and biodegradable polymeric films developed from natural sources like carbohydrates, proteins, and their derivatives have opened up new possibilities for usage in sustainable commercial packaging, biomedicine, and food science. Compostable and biodegradable food packaging materials are being developed in light of increasing customer concerns about food safety, sustainability, and environmental impact. Many scientific sectors, including health, biopharma, food, cosmetics, chemicals, bioplastics, biopackaging, and biotechnology, extensively focus on them. Over the past few years, polysaccharide-based packaging material development science and technology has been driven by scientific breakthroughs in food packaging applications.

This Special Issue is devoted to the most recent research on these topics, covering all aspects concerning the structural modification and application of polysaccharides in food packaging materials, biomedicine, food science, bioplastics, biopackaging, etc. This Special Issue welcomes high-quality research and review articles focusing on natural polysaccharide materials and their composites. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Polysaccharide-based films, composites and coatings for food packaging;
• Polysaccharides for food science;
• Polysaccharides for biomedicine;
• Extrusion and co-extrusion of polymers;
• Blending of bio-based materials with polymers to enhance functional properties;
• Reinforcement of encapsulated compounds in polymer matrixes;
• Intelligent and antimicrobial packaging and shelf-life enhancement;
• Degradation, recycling and composting of polymers and composites;
• Life-cycle assessment of polymers;
• Migration (study or kinetics) of substances from packaging films, composites and coatings;
• Machine runnability (tray sealing, thermoforming, vertical film form, and seal) of novel and redesigned packaging materials.

Dr. Mehraj Fatema Z. Mulla
Dr. Shivani Pathania
Prof. Dr. Joseph Kerry
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• chitin
• chitosan
• pectin
• gums
• food packaging
• food science
• biomedicine