Crosslinking in polysaccharide and protein films and coatings for food contact - A review

Crosslinking is a promising technique to improve the performance and applicability of protein- and polysaccharide-based food contact materials, especially concerning their water sensitivity, which hinders many of their potential applications as food contact materials. Some aldehydes are very effective as crosslinkers, but they have been avoided in food contact materials because of possible migration of aldehyde residues to food, and less toxic compounds have been studied for those applications, such as phenolic acids, oxidized polysaccharides, and enzymes. Crosslinking techniques may help make protein- and polysaccharide-based materials more suitable for large-scale processing and applications in the future.