Table Of ContentTomy J. Gutiérrez Editor
Polymers for
Agri-Food
Applications
Polymers for Agri-Food Applications
Tomy J. Gutiérrez
Editor
Polymers for Agri-Food
Applications
Editor
Tomy J. Gutiérrez
Thermoplastic Composite Materials (CoMP) Group
Faculty of Engineering
Institute of Research in Materials Science and Technology (INTEMA)
National University of Mar del Plata (UNMdP) and National Scientific
and Technical Research Council (CONICET)
Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
ISBN 978-3-030-19415-4 ISBN 978-3-030-19416-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19416-1
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I would like to dedicate this book:
To my God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), to
the Virgin Mary, and to my Guardian Angel,
Their energy stimulates me to enjoy the
landscape we call life, and their peace
encourages me to always continue toward
the future, a place where we will all go and
each one will be under the law of the creative
father.
To my Mother, Dr. Mirian Arminda Carmona
Rodríguez,
For forming my character and attitude
toward life.
To my Grandmother, Mrs. Arminda Teresa
Rodríguez Romero,
A person who unfortunately left before this
world’s time, but I am sure that she is up
watching me and supporting me in all facets
of my life. You are in my most beautiful
memories.
To all the anonymous persons,
Those who give me their love, friendship,
patience, and support in various situations.
To Venezuela and Argentina,
The first for giving me my academic and
professional training, and the second for
welcoming me with love and friendship
before the dictatorship that my country
(Venezuela) is experiencing today.
Tomy J. Gutiérrez, Ph.D.
Editor
Preface
The science and technology of polymers for agri-food applications is often known as
“plasticulture.” This agricultural science and technology (Plasticulture Science and
Technology) is growing daily, and is particularly aimed at developing alternative
materials that avoid the use of non-biodegradable products obtained from the petro-
chemical industry. Strong concerns related to climate change, as well as new sustain-
able and ecological concepts in emerging economies have driven the development of
natural polymers for agri-food applications. Synthetic polymers also have a promi-
nent role to play in agro-industry, and as such, they will also be discussed by recog-
nized researchers. This book addresses the different applications of natural and
synthetic polymers in agri-industrial processes with the goal of improving food crop
yields while reducing the carbon footprint.
Tomy J. Gutiérrez
National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET)
Institute of Research in Materials Science and Technology (INTEMA)
Thermoplastic Composite Materials (CoMP) Group
Mar del Plata, Argentina
vii
Contents
1 Trends in Polymers for Agri-Food Applications:
A Note from the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Tomy J. Gutiérrez
2 Polymer Based Micro- and Nanoencapsulation
of Agrochemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Tanushree Sinha, Prachi Bhagwatwar, Chandan Krishnamoorthy,
and Ramalingam Chidambaram
3 Nano and Microencapsulated Nutrients
for Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Débora França, Lucas Luiz Messa, Claudinei Fonseca Souza,
and Roselena Faez
4 Potential Use of Polymeric Particles for the Regulation
of Plant Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Anderson E. S. Pereira, Bruno T. Sousa, María J. Iglesias,
Vera A. Alvarez, Claudia A. Casalongué, Halley C. Oliveira,
and Leonardo F. Fraceto
5 Applications and Implications of Environmental-Responsive
Polymers toward Agrochemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Yue Shen, Huaxin Zhu, Yan Wang, Haixin Cui, and Runcang Sun
6 Starch Nanoparticles and Nanocrystals as Bioactive
Molecule Carriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Cristian C. Villa, Leidy T. Sanchez, and N. David Rodriguez-Marin
7 Biopolymer-Based Hydrogels for Agriculture Applications:
Swelling Behavior and Slow Release of Agrochemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Bárbara Tomadoni, Claudia Casalongué, and Vera A. Alvarez
ix
x Contents
8 Hydrogels: An Effective Tool to Improve Nitrogen
Use Efficiency in Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Mariana A. Melaj and Rocío B. Gimenez
9 Classification and Uses of Emulsions in Food
and Agro Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Antony Allwyn Sundarraj and Thottiam Vasudevan Ranganathan
10 Nanoemulsions: Industrial Production
and Food-Grade Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Sonal Agarwal, Swathika Vivekanandan, Trisha David,
Mahima Mitra, Jeyanthi Palanivelu, and Ramalingam Chidambaram
11 Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films for Sustainable
Specialty Crop Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Douglas G. Hayes, Marife B. Anunciado, Jennifer M. DeBruyn,
Sreejata Bandopadhyay, Sean Schaeffer, Marie English,
Shuresh Ghimire, Carol Miles, Markus Flury, and Henry Y. Sintim
12 Performance of Bio-Based Polymeric Agricultural Mulch Films . . . . 215
Danila Merino, Andrea Y. Mansilla, Claudia A. Casalongué,
and Vera A. Alvarez
13 Agronomical Overview of Mulch Film Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
S. Guerrini, C. Yan, M. Malinconico, and P. Mormile
14 Mulch Plastic Systems: Recent Advances and Applications ........ 265
Verónica Manzano, Nancy L. García, Carlos Rodríguez Ramírez,
Norma D’Accorso, and Silvia Goyanes
15 Biodegradable Polymer Nanofibers Applied
in Slow Release Systems for Agri- Food Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Danilo Martins, Vanessa P. Scagion, Rodrigo Schneider,
Ana Carolina C. Lemos, Juliano Oliveira, and Daniel S. Correa
16 Synthesis Methods of Starch-Based Polymer Foams
and Its Comparison With Conventional Polymer Foams
for Food Packaging Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Shatakshi Pachori, Anushka Sarkar, Anjama Dutta,
Jeyanthi Palanivelu, and Ramalingam Chidambaram
17 Coatings in the Postharvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
María Roberta Ansorena and Alejandra G. Ponce
18 Trends in the Manufacture of Coatings
in the Postharvest Conservation of Fruits and Vegetables . . . . . . . . . 355
Loveleen Sharma, Alok Saxena, and Tanushree Maity
Contents xi
19 Development of Edible Coatings in the Preservation
of Fruits and Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Sabina Galus
20 Smart and Active Edible Coatings Based on Biopolymers . . . . . . . . . 391
Germán Ayala Valencia, Carla Giovana Luciano,
and Alcilene R. Monteiro Fritz
21 Active Edible Coatings for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Swarajya Laxmi Nayak, Shruti Sethi, R. R. Sharma,
and Uma Prajapati
22 Active, Eco-Friendly and Edible Coatings
in the Post-Harvest – A Critical Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
Alcilene R. Monteiro Fritz, Jéssica de Matos Fonseca,
Thalles Canton Trevisol, Cristiane Fagundes,
and Germán Ayala Valencia
23 Chitosan Mono- and Bilayer Edible Coatings
for Preserving Postharvest Quality of Fresh Fruit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
Margherita Modesti, Luigi Zampella, and Milena Petriccione
24 Shellac-Based Coating Polymer for Agricultural Applications . . . . . 487
Manee Luangtana-anan and Sontaya Limmatvapirat
25 Application of Bionanocomposites on Horticultural
Products to Increase the Shelf Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
Adrija Choudhury, Peerzada Gh. Jeelani, Nishita Biswal,
and Ramalingam Chidambaram
26 Essential Oil Nanoemulsions as Antimicrobials
and Antioxidants in Composite Food Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Magda I. Pinzon, Leidy T. Sanchez, and Cristian C. Villa
27 Nanocellulose-Polymer Composites: Novel Materials
for Food Packaging Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
A. K. Bharimalla, P. G. Patil, S. Mukherjee,
V. Yadav, and V. Prasad
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
About the Editor
Tomy J. Gutiérrez has a degree in chemistry
(Geochemical option) and a degree in education
(Chemical mention) from the Central University of
Venezuela (UCV) (December 2007 and July 2008,
respectively) and has a specialization in the International
Negotiation of Hydrocarbons from the National
Polytechnic Experimental University of the National
Armed Forces (UNEFA), Venezuela (July 2011). He
also has a Master’s and PhD degree in Food Science
and Technology obtained in October 2013 and April
2015, respectively, and PhD studies in Metallurgy and
Materials Science from the UCV, and postdoctoral
studies at the Research Institute in Materials Science
and Technology (INTEMA). He has been a professor
and researcher at the UCV both at the Institute of Food
Science and Technology (ICTA) and the School of
Pharmacy. He is currently an adjunct researcher in the
INTEMA, National Scientific and Technical Research
Council (CONICET), Argentina. He has at least 20
book chapters and 40 publications in international jour-
nals of high-impact factor. He has been a guest editor of
several international journals, such as Journal of Food
Quality, Polymers for Advanced Technology, Current
Pharmaceutical Design, and Frontiers in
Pharmacology. He, today, is developing a line of
research in nanostructured materials based on polymers
(composite materials), which are obtained on a pilot
scale to be transferred to the food, pharmaceutical, and
polymer industry. He is also a collaborator of interna-
tional projects between Argentina and Brazil, Colombia,
France, India, Iran, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela.
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