In the specific context of packaging films, materials must serve some specific requirements. These relate to barrier properties (water vapor permeability, UV light resistance), optical properties (colour and transparency), and mechanical properties (strength and flexibility).
Research and development in the area of biopackaging have been intensified over the last years (Gonzalez- Gutierrez et al., 2010).
However, the low presence of biobased packages on the market is evident, which indicates that further studies of these materials must be carried out.
In the case of films based on proteins, they are brittle and have low resistance to moisture, thus some modifications are needed to turn them into useful materials in service conditions (Peña et al., 2010).