Chitosan for Food Packaging Applications: A Patent Landscape Analysis

first_page Download PDF settings Order Article Reprints Font Type: Arial Georgia Verdana Font Size: Aa Aa Aa Line Spacing:    Column Width:    Background: Open AccessAbstract Chitosan for Food Packaging Applications: A Patent Landscape Analysis † by Massimo BarbieriMassimo Barbieri SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Politecnico di Milano (Technology Transfer Office), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy † Presented at the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Biomolecules, 23–25 April 2024; Available online: https://sciforum.net/event/IECBM2024. Proceedings 2024, 103(1), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2024103043 Published: 12 April 2024 (This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 3rd International Electronic Conference on Biomolecules) Download keyboard_arrow_down Download PDF Download PDF with Cover Download XML Download Epub Versions Notes Keywords: chitosan; biopolymers; patent landscape; patent search; patent analysis Chitosan is a biopolymer synthesized by deacetylation of chitin, a polysaccharide that can be obtained from various renewable resources, mainly waste from marine food production. Its excellent properties, including antimicrobial activity, non-toxicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, have made chitosan a successful material in food packaging technology. The objective of this study is to provide a patent landscape of the use of chitosan in food packaging applications. The reference database used was Espacenet, a free patent database provided by the European Patent Office (EPO). The final patent results were obtained using both classification symbols [IPC (International Patent Classification) and CPC (Cooperative Patent Classification)] and keywords in the full text, title, abstract, and claims search fields. The main relevant classification codes are listed in Table 1. A total of 2737 patent documents were obtained. After filtering the data by the earliest priority date (2003–2023), 2556 results were retrieved. China had the highest number of patents with 2154, followed by the USA with 261 and Europe with 173. The International Patent System (PCT) is frequently used by applicants and ranks second with 288 patent applications. A total of 2316 patents/patent applications were filed between 2012 and 2022. Upon analysis of the data, it was observed that many of the applications were based on chitosan blends. The most commonly claimed biopolymer blends were starch and cellulose, while the most commonly claimed synthetic polymer blends were polylactic acid (PLA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The data analysis indicates that the following materials are used: polyhydroxy alcohols, nanostructured additives, quaternary ammonium chitosan, TiO2 and oxides/hydroxides of zinc as compounding ingredients, heterocyclic compounds with a six-membered ring containing one oxygen atom in the ring, and phenolic acids, mainly gallic, ferulic, and salicylic acid. Table 1. List of IPC/CPC codes used in the patent search cited. Table 1. List of IPC/CPC codes used in the patent search cited. Classification CodeSystem DefinitionY02W90/10CPCBio-packaging, e.g., packing containers made from renewable resources or bioplastics.B65D65/466CPCBio- or photodegradable packaging materialsB65D65/463CPCEdible packaging materialsB32B2439/70IPC/CPCFood packagingC08L5/08IPC/CPCChitin; Chondroitin sulfate; Hyaluronic acid; Derivatives thereofC08B37/003CPCChitin, i.e., 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-(beta-1,4)-d-glucan or N-acetyl-beta-1,4-d-glucosamine; Chitosan, i.e., deacetylated product of chitin or (beta-1,4)-d-glucosamine; Derivatives thereofC08J2405/08CPCChitin; Chondroitin sulfate; Hyaluronic acid; Derivatives thereofC08J2305/08CPCChitin; Chondroitin sulfate; Hyaluronic acid; Derivatives thereof The search query used was as follows: ((ftxt all "chitosan" AND (cl any "C08L5/08" OR cpc any "C08B37/003" OR cpc any "C08J2405/08" OR cpc any "C08J2305/08")) AND (ftxt=("food" prox/ordered "packag*") OR cpc any "Y02W90/10" OR cpc any "B65D65/466" OR cpc any "B65D65/436" OR cpc any "B32B2439/70")) OR (ctxt all "chitosan" AND (ftxt=("food" prox/ordered "packag*") OR cpc any "Y02W90/10" OR cpc any "B65D65/466" OR cpc any "B65D65/463" OR cpc any "B32B2439/70")). FundingThis research received no external funding.Institutional Review Board StatementNot applicable.Informed Consent StatementNot applicable.Data Availability StatementData are available upon request.Conflicts of InterestThe author declares no conflict of interest.Disclaimer/Publisher's Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. © 2024 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Share and Cite MDPI and ACS Style Barbieri, M. Chitosan for Food Packaging Applications: A Patent Landscape Analysis. Proceedings 2024, 103, 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2024103043 AMA Style Barbieri M. Chitosan for Food Packaging Applications: A Patent Landscape Analysis. Proceedings. 2024; 103(1):43. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2024103043 Chicago/Turabian Style Barbieri, Massimo. 2024. "Chitosan for Food Packaging Applications: A Patent Landscape Analysis" Proceedings 103, no. 1: 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2024103043 Article Metrics No No Article Access Statistics Multiple requests from the same IP address are counted as one view.