Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Feb 28;14(5):983.
doi: 10.3390/polym14050983.

Biopolymer: A Sustainable Material for Food and Medical Applications

Jaya Baranwal  1 , Brajesh Barse  1 , Antonella Fais  2 , Giovanna Lucia Delogu  2 , Amit Kumar  3
Affiliations
Review

Biopolymer: A Sustainable Material for Food and Medical Applications

Jaya Baranwal et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Biopolymers are a leading class of functional material suitable for high-value applications and are of great interest to researchers and professionals across various disciplines. Interdisciplinary research is important to understand the basic and applied aspects of biopolymers to address several complex problems associated with good health and well-being. To reduce the environmental impact and dependence on fossil fuels, a lot of effort has gone into replacing synthetic polymers with biodegradable materials, especially those derived from natural resources. In this regard, many types of natural or biopolymers have been developed to meet the needs of ever-expanding applications. These biopolymers are currently used in food applications and are expanding their use in the pharmaceutical and medical industries due to their unique properties. This review focuses on the various uses of biopolymers in the food and medical industry and provides a future outlook for the biopolymer industry.

Keywords: biodegradable materials; biopolymers; chitosan; medical and food applications; microbial polysaccharides.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Classification of biopolymers based upon their origin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A pictorial depiction of several natural renewable biopolymers categorized according to their source.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Tryglycerides in vegetable oils are an important source of biopolymers.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Three structural units in lignin are (a) 4-hydroxyphenyl unit, (b) guaiacyl unit, and (c) syringyl unit.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ezeoha S.L. Production of Biodegradable Plastic Packaging Film from Cassava Starch. IOSR J. Eng. 2013;3:14–20. doi: 10.9790/3021-031051420. - DOI
    1. Jenkins A.D., Kratochvíl P., Stepto R.F.T., Suter U.W. Glossary of basic terms in polymer science (IUPAC Recommendations 1996) Pure Appl. Chem. 1996;68:2287–2311. doi: 10.1351/pac199668122287. - DOI
    1. Stryer L., Berg J.M., Tymoczko J.L. Biochemistry And Study Guide. 5th ed. W.H. Freeman; New York, NY, USA: 2002.
    1. Gullapalli S., Wong M.S. Nanotechnology: A Guide to Nano-Objects. Chem. Eng. Prog. 2011;107:28–32.
    1. Ruso J.M., Messina P.V. Biopolymers for Medical Applications. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL, USA: 2017. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources