Pullulan-Based Packaging Materials

Pullulan is composed primarily of maltotriose units linked in a-1,6 fashion and is produced as an extracellular secondary metabolite of some fungi. Because of its natural origin, pullulan was commercialized as a food source and has been accepted as a coating material for foods. It is a water-soluble polymer that provides transparent films of low oxygen permeability for foods. The film can be obtained by casting a 1-20% aqueous solution of pullulan on a metal plate roller, or, similarly to starch, pullulan can be molded with heat and pressure if a suitable amount of water is added as plasticizer [484, 485]. 

---

For coating materials or packaging films, several potysaccharide-based biopolymers have been used, including starch, pullulan, and chitosan. Starch is used as a filler to increase the degradation of synthetic polymer films. The LDPE blends mixed with 10% corn under the conventional techniques were used in the manufacturing of the grocery bags. (Shinde et al., 1992). 

---