The addition of nanofillers such as MMT, silver, and ZnO to the biopolymers such as starch and PLA open up
new potential to create new and innovative bio-nanocomposite materials with improved properties and performance.
Nanofillers have the ability to improve the mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties as well as exhibit other
desired functions and applications in food packaging such as antimicrobial agent, biosensor, and oxygen scavengers.
Bio-nanocompsite materials have been a promising alternative to be used for food packaging applications instead of
the conventional plastics especially those made from petroleum. It offers possibilities to create eco-friendly and
sustainable food packaging materials to replace those non-biodegradable materials. Although many important
fundamental results concerning the effect of addition of nanofillers to the properties of bio-nanocomposite materials
have been clarified by previous work, the effect of types of biopolymer and nanofiller on the properties of bionanocomposite
materials have not been studied extensively. Further studies are crucial to investigate the maximum
potential of bio-nanocomposite materials performance for food packaging applications.
Regardless the many benefits of bio-nanocomposite materials, the use of nanofillers to produce the materials
need proper considerations in terms of safety for end use because there are limited studies done on the toxicological
effects and migration of nanofillers into food from the packaging films