Pectin-Based Food Packaging Film

Pectin is a class of complex polysaccharides that act as structural components abundantly present in cell walls of higher plants. Besides being safe, biodegradable, and edible, these biopolymers possess a tremendous capability of forming gels with sugar and acid under suitable conditions. Due to this property, they have been widely used in the form of gelling agents, thickeners, and colloidal stabilizers in the food industry. This cross-linking and gel-forming property, along with the presence of several functional groups capable of modification, make pectin a suitable option to be used for several other applications, such as biomedicals, pharmaceuticals, and most recently, food packaging. This chapter covers the extraction processes and structural aspects of pectin and discusses its possible modifications for use in various applications. Further, the utilization of pectin in food packaging applications has been elaborately explored.