Rapeseed waste transformed into biodegradable active food packaging film

A research team has transformed underused rapeseed-processing residues into a biodegradable active film developed to protect fresh food, aimed at replacing petroleum-based packaging. 

The material combines chitosan (CS) with phenolic extracts from rapeseed cake, flowers, stems, and leaves, with biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The solution strengthens the film, enhances resistance to water, oxygen, and UV light, and adds antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. 

The study, published in Food Quality and Safety, used the byproducts’ natural chemistry as a functional resource. In storage tests, the films slowed quality loss in cherry tomatoes and enoki mushrooms, while soil-burial experiments demonstrated complete degradation within three weeks.

“This study developed a multifunctional active food packaging film by incorporating rapeseed cake extract and biosynthesized AgNPs into a CS matrix, enabling the value-added utilization of agricultural byproducts,” say the researchers.

“In application tests, the film extended the shelf life for vegetables while preserving color and key quality parameters. The film fully degraded within 21 days without phytotoxicity, confirming its environmental sustainability. By turning rapeseed processing waste into high-performance food packaging, this work offers a cost-effective, eco-friendly solution to reduce plastic pollution.”

Extending freshness

Researchers from the School of Biological Engineering at Dalian Polytechnic University, China, worked with Innobio Corporation to extract bioactive compounds from residues of Brassica napus L. They used the extracts to produce AgNPs under mild conditions before embedding components in a CS matrix. 

The study examines whether the resulting films could combine structural durability, active preservation, food-contact promise, and rapid environmental degradation in one packaging system.

The scientists share that the film they created is stronger, less vulnerable to moisture, and better able to slow oxidation and microbial growth. They say the trials are especially important because they move the concept beyond laboratory measurements and show how the material performs on highly perishable foods with different spoilage patterns and preservation needs.

According to the scientists, the films could support coatings, wraps, or liners for fresh produce and other foods vulnerable to dehydration, oxidation, browning, and microbial spoilage. However, translating the technology into commercial packaging applications will require scalable manufacturing processes, cost and sensory evaluations, standardized food-contact testing, as well as trials under real-world transport and storage conditions.

Last month, researchers at Hasanuddin University, Indonesia, developed a biodegradable packaging material reinforced with cellulose derived from fermented coconut water that combines oxygen-scavenging functionality with enhanced mechanical performance.

This month, scientists from Sri Lanka developed mycelium-based composites using fungal strains and lignocellulosic waste materials, introducing a biodegradable alternative to synthetic protective packaging material.