Impact of Biodegradable Chitosan-Based Coating on Barrier Properties of Papers

International audience; Aroma and oxygen-barrier properties of chitosan-coated papers were measured in order to evaluate the potential of these materials as biodegradable materials for food packaging. Firstly, two chitosans (Chi244 and Chi-652) were studied according to their ultimate biodegradability. Chi-652 showed the best final biodegradation rate and was then used for subsequent tests in association with papers. Then, oxygen-barrier and aroma-barrier properties of papers, Chi-652 films and Chi-652-coated papers were investigated. The Chi-652 films exhibited oxygen-barrier at low relative humidity and aroma-barrier comparable to synthetic materials already used in the packaged food industry. Both papers exhibited poor barrier properties toward oxygen and aromas. Although chitosan-coated papers showed promising results in regard to the aroma-barrier performance of papers, it did not improve their oxygen-barrier properties, probably because of the impact of the coating process on the tri-dimensional structure of the papers.