Essential oil-embedded starch based films for active packaging

Background: Petroleum-based packaging materials are impact on land, water, and human health. Thus, sustainable packaging materials from natural polymers that meet sustainable development goals (SDGs) are crucial to the packaging industry. Therefore, starch-based packaging materials showed promise as an alternative to petroleum-derived plastics. However, their inherent hydrophilicity and susceptibility to microbial degradation limit their functionality. Integrating essential oils (EOs) into starch-based films is an innovative approach to improve film's characteristics. This article meticulously examines advancements mainly from 2020 to 2025 in fabrication, characterizations, and application of starch-based film for food preservation. Scope and approach: This review meticulously examined experimental and case studies of developing EOs-based packaging material. It examined the role of plasticizers, drying techniques, physico-mechanical, functional, and structural properties of the film. This review also studies the stability and migration of essential oil, regulatory aspects regarding permissible migration of any substances into the food packaging. Additionally, the review addresses the nanotechnology and AI-based packaging materials design, life cycle assessment and industrial scalability of starch-essential oil-based films. Key findings and conclusions: Starch-EOs-based packaging can extend the shelf life of food products. Starch-essential oil-based film showed excellent antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Moreover, the stability of essential oil in packaging film can be maintained by encapsulation techniques such as nanoemulsion and cyclodextrin inclusion complexes. Furthermore, integrating nanotechnology and AI-driven materials also enables real-time freshness monitoring, extending shelf life and minimizing spoilage-related waste. Future research should focus on optimizing EO incorporation techniques, sensory evaluation, and scaling up production for industrial applications.