**4. Summary and Future Prospective**

Packaging plays an imperative role in supply chain and has received great attention in number of industries. However, the existing packaging systems are primarily based on synthetic polymers/plastics from fossil resources. Seeing the issues associated with the synthetic polymers/plastics, biomedical and pharmaceutical industries in particular all around the globe are looking for new bio-based sustainable packaging materials that can extend the shelf life of these materials due to the environmental and health issues associated with traditional packaging waste. Increasing the use of sustainable polymeric materials in packaging could address such concerns. The main goals of polymer researchers in the development of new medical and pharmaceutical materials are associated with a reduction in the risk of disease transmission and the spread of infections. The search for new effective antimicrobial dressing materials is constantly growing. Electrospinning is being used in medicine for the production of non-woven structures at the nanoscale. In the electrospinning process, the chemical and physical parameters of the obtained nanofibre mats can be adjusted by dressing the appropriate materials and parameters of the process. The electrospinning process is also influenced by nanoparticles of various natural materials and biopolymers. The addition of natural nanomaterials affects the morphology and size of the electrospun fibre. Along with alginate, the other biopolymers being used in the electrospinning technique include hyaluronic acid, cellulose, silk, gelatin and collagen, to name a few. The mixture of biopolymers and synthetic polymers is also used to create the novel biomaterials with specific properties such as mechanical resistance, thermal stability and barrier resistance. Mixtures with natural polymers may also affect the structural, morphological and subsequent degradation properties of the electrospun fibers

The treatment of disease states with the help of biologically active materials created with the help of electrospun nanofibers is part of modern regenerative medicine. The use of natural materials such as plant oils and extracts means that the nonwovens created in the electrospinning process find many applications with safety of use. It is of great importance that it is possible to optimize process conditions and create nanofibers that meet specific requirements. Among the various materials studied, alginate has very high potential for packaging applications and is being seen as the future of packaging materials. However, a very limited study has been carried out on the use of Alginate based electrospun mats for packing application, and to realize its real potential an extensive study in this direction is needed.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, J.W-K., T.R., I.M-P., and V.K.T.; investigation, J.W-K., T.R., I.M-P., and V.K.T.; writing-original draft preparation, J.W-K., T.R., I.M-P., and V.K.T.; visualization, J.W-K., T.R., I.M-P., and V.K.T.

**Funding:** V.K.T. wish to acknowledge and thank the British Council for the support of this work through a UKIERI grant (No. DST /INTUK/P-164/2017).

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
