Application of bioplastics for food packaging

•Overview of biobased polymers used as a component in (food) packaging materials.•Different strategies for improving barrier properties of biobased packaging.•Permeability values and mechanical properties of multilayered biobased plastics.•Wide application area of biobased packaging for food products.

This review provides state of the art information on the performance of bioplastics materials, focusing on food packaging. It gives an overview of the main materials used for producing biobased films, their limitations, solutions thereof, possible applications and a state of the art on bioplastics already used as a food packaging material.Furthermore an inventory on bioplastics was made in the context of a research project. Important characteristics regarding packaging material are summarized in an extended table, which shows a big variety (e.g. permeability, tensile properties), suggesting a wide range of food products can be packed in biobased polymer films.