New biopolymers of microbial origin for the production of innovative packaging to increase the shelf-life and safety of food

In recent decades, there has been an increasing interest in finding viable bio-based alternatives to the use of synthetic petroleum-derived films for food packaging. The development of biodegradable polymers could provide a sustainable approach to minimize this problem. The natural polymers used to develop biodegradable materials are generally polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids. Among the materials that can potentially be used as biopolymers, there are some sources that have not been well studied but have very interesting properties, such as the biomass of yeasts. Their cell walls consist of glucans, mannoproteins and chitin. For example, β-glucans are the main polysaccharides that have shown promising results in combination with cell wall proteins for the formulation of multicomponent films. In addition, some biopolymers such as pullulans produced by Aureobasidium pullulans or celluloses produced by various acetic bacteria could be a valuable alternative for the packaging sector.

The main objective of this project is to develop biopolymers for food packaging formulation based on yeast cells (glucans, mannans, pullulans and/or chitosan and/or cellulose) or bacteria enriched with antimicrobial molecule (e.g. essential oils). The aim of the project is to select the most suitable yeasts for the development of the biopolymer and to find the most appropriate methods and technologies for cell disruption and recovery of the fraction of interest. The growth of the different microorganisms will be tested and fine-tuned starting from different food industry by-products (e.g. cheese whey, fruit and vegetable by-products, fish by-products). After obtaining the starting biopolymers, the most suitable conditions to produce biodegradable films will be determined, which will be tested for their mechanical, thermal, hygroscopic, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.

• Develop safe, functional, and new food packaging as sustainable alternatives to conventional petrochemical-based packaging. 
• Development of biotechnological processes combining specific microorganisms and/or their metabolites and/or non-thermal technologies will make it possible to create greater awareness of the sustainable use of microbial potential, while promoting the reuse of waste and by-products from the agro-food industry (which can be used as growth substrates) with a view to a circular approach. 
• Scientific publications that will open new research directions in the field of food packaging.