International audiencePoly(lactic acid) (PLA) is the most traded biodegradable and biobased material. It is largely used as ecofriendly substitute of conventional plastics. Nevertheless, one of the main limiting factors is its water sensitivity. PLA reacts with water and is hydrolyzed during time, which determines its performance. Limited information related to the hydrolysis mechanism driven by water in vapor state is available in scientific literature. Literature is mainly focused on the effects of water in liquid state. This lack of information is of significant importance, since PLA interacts with water in both phases. This work was aimed to give a full depiction of the chemical and physical changes of PLA in a large range of relative humidity environments (from 50 to 100% RH) and in contact with liquid water. This research clearly showed that the stability of PLA was influenced not only by the chemical potential of water molecules, but also by their physical state due to a different behavior of degradation products. From a practical point of view, the findings of this study can be used as strong scientific basis for giving recommendations about the use of this material in its applications as packaging or mulch films

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The aim of this review is to provide an in-depth overview on the use of inorganic nano-sized entities for the generation of nanocomposite materials in the form of films and coatings for food packaging applications.According to recent trends toward "green" strategies, special focus has been dedicated to the development of nanocomposite coatings obtained using biopolymers as the main polymer matrix. After a first introductive part, the discussion has been addressed to the use of inorganic fillers, metals and metal-oxides, zeolites, and graphene. For each class of filler, a first 'in-depth' description of the most relevant physicochemical properties for the food packaging sector has been followed by case-by-case references to recent developments and envisaged implementations. The technical aspects that may be crucial in the design and end use of (bio)nanocomposite coatings have been covered in the last part of this work, which also includes an updated list of current applications on nano-sized inorganic fillers in the food packaging field.

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