From Laboratory Films to Food-Contact Packaging: A PRISMA 2020 Systematic Review and Translational Maturity Assessment of Bacterial Cellulose/Nanocellulose

Introduction: Bacterial cellulose and bacterial nanocellulose (BC/BNC) are increasingly investigated as functional components for active and sustainable food packaging, as reinforcing phases, coatings, barrier layers, and carriers of antimicrobial, antioxidant, or freshness-indicator compounds. However, sustainability claims based on bio-based origin, biodegradability, or waste-derived substrates do not demonstrate food-contact safety, scalability, or regulatory readiness. This review asked which evidence domains remain missing for BC/BNC systems to progress from laboratory films to transferable food-packaging technologies.

Methods: A PRISMA 2020 systematic review was integrated with bibliometric mapping and translational maturity assessment. English-language Scopus records published between 2015 and 2025 were screened using terms related to bacterial cellulose, bacterial nanocellulose, food packaging, active and intelligent packaging, films, coatings, and food-contact safety. Original articles supported the technical-evidence synthesis, while reviews informed contextual mapping and gap interpretation. The assessment considered thematic prominence, patent-family links, policy citations, Sustainable Development Goal labels, and validation gaps.

Results and Discussion: The corpus comprised 383 documents: 325 original articles and 58 reviews. Research was dominated by active films and coatings, antimicrobial/antibacterial activity, antioxidant capacity, barrier performance, freshness indicators, and shelf-life extension. In contrast, translational evidence was limited. Among 190 publications in journals ranked in the top 10% by CiteScore, only 19 were linked to patent families and 6 were cited in policy documents. Underreported domains included migration, non-intentionally added substances, substrate-derived contaminants when waste feedstocks are used, residual processing aids, oral-exposure safety, real-food storage under relevant humidity or temperature conditions, heat sealability, life-cycle assessment, techno-economic evaluation, pilot-scale processing, and industrial validation.

Conclusions: BC/BNC is functionally promising at laboratory scale, but not yet translation-ready as a food-contact packaging technology. Future studies should report a structured core translational evidence package integrating migration, safety, real-food performance, quantified sustainability, cost, scalability, substrate traceability, and regulatory acceptance.