Antioxidant Bio-Based and Biodegradable Polymer Films for Sustainable Food Packaging

Antioxidant biopolymeric films (ABFs) have emerged as promising bio-based and biodegradable polymer materials for sustainable food packaging, combining environmental sustainability with functional performance. This study identifies convergent design principles governing ABFs through a systematic mapping of research published between 2015 and 2025, organized into thematic discussions covering global trends, material strategies, processing technologies, and structure-property relationships. The analysis reveals a clear transition from biodegradable substitution materials toward performance-driven polymer systems engineered to modulate mass transport phenomena. Polysaccharide- and protein-based matrices dominate current developments due to their chemical functionality and compatibility with natural bioactive compounds; however, their inherent hydrophilicity introduces trade-offs between barrier resistance and controlled release. Recent advances increasingly employ blends, composites, and multilayer architectures to decouple mechanical stability from antioxidant migration. Processing technologies, including casting, extrusion, and multilayer assembly, are shown to play a decisive role in defining diffusion pathways and release kinetics. The findings demonstrate that the effectiveness of ABFs depends primarily on polymer-bioactive interactions and structure-property relationships rather than additive concentration alone. Future progress toward industrial implementation requires scalable fabrication strategies and predictive processing-structure-performance frameworks aligned with circular economy principles. This perspective positions ABFs as functional bio-based polymer systems capable of synchronizing antioxidant release with food oxidation kinetics, contributing to sustainable food packaging solutions.