Chitosan is an N-deacetylate derivative of chitin, which can be found in crustaceans, insects, and fungi. In several studies, chitosan is pursued to be applied as an optional biopolymeric material in food, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industries. Owing to its high commercially potential properties, including good film forming ability, physicochemical properties, antimicrobial activity and non-toxicity, chitosan has been widely used as an active material for formation of edible films. Chitosan based films can be manufactured for packaging, especially for edible food packaging. This is in accordance with green-consumption, which involves preference to materials derived from natural sources rather than synthetic substances. This manuscript provides an overview of the extensive research on chitosan properties, applications, and further aspect of chitosan based approach in food industries.

Chitosan (CH)-based films were incorporated with a curcumin nanoemulsion (CurNE) to overcome their limitations, such as low mechanical strength and high-water vapour permeability (WVP). The obtained optimum conditions of NE were, as follows: oil to aqueous phase ratio = 1:9 and ultrasonication time = 15 min, given that the smallest mean diameter and the highest absolute value of the zeta potential were 307.53 AE 6.30 nm and −15.43 AE 0.74 mV. Thereafter, NE was encapsulated in CH(CH-NE) to determine the functional amelioration, as well as the alteration in the inner structure. CH-NE demonstrated the successful fabrication of uniform and compatible films, which reinforced elongation and significantly decreased the WVP. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of CH-NE was five times higher than that of CH. The thermal and electrical properties were evaluated to elucidate the alterations in the inner structure alterations. Further, the glass-transition temperature (T g ) of CH-NE shifted by ~10 °C and the relaxation time (τ) of the electric modulus increased compared with that of CH, indicating that the incorporation of NE affected the structural alterations.

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