High oxygen barrier packaging materials from protein-rich single-celled organisms

communications chemistry Article A Nature Portfolio journal https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x High oxygen barrier packaging materials from protein-rich single-celled organisms Check for updates Kiran Reddy Baddigam 1, Bor Shin Chee2,ElodieGuilloud 1, Chaitra Venkatesh2, Helena Koninckx3, Kim Windey4, Margaret Brennan Fournet2, Mikael Hedenqvist 1& Anna J. Svagan 1 Fossil-based packaging materials pose significant environmental challenges due to their persistence and carbon footprint, resulting in pollution and long-term climate change. Here we develop bioplastic packaging alternatives (films and trays) from protein-rich microbial biomass with glycerol as the plasticizer. The microbial biomass demonstrated excellent film-forming properties through compression molding, and the final materials exhibited good mechanical properties and excellent gas barrier properties - an average oxygen permeability coefficient of 0.33 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1 at 50% relative humidity and 23 °C. The oxygen barrier properties highlight these microbial biomass materials asapromising, sustainable alternativetofossil-based synthetic films like EVOH,whicharewidelyused in multilayer food packaging. Beyond offering a microplastic-free solution, the protein-rich materials present an opportunity to mitigate microplastic pollution at the end of their lifecycle. The current results position bioplastics based on microbial biomass as a critical step forward in addressing environmental sustainability challenges with current commercial packaging materials. Plastics have rapidly proliferated across many application fields due to their favorable qualities, such as out-matched mechanical, barrier and chemical properties, as well as processability, and low production costs1–4. Since largescale plastic production began in the ≈1950s and up to 2015, an estimated 8300 million tonnes of virgin plastic have been produced. Regrettably, more than half of this quantity (5000 million tonnes) has ended up as waste in oceans and other natural environments5. It is only a few types of plastics3— polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethane (PUR), polystyrene (PS), aliphatic polyesters and polyamides—that account for most plastics (92%) ever made between the 1950s and 20155. The primary drawback of our common plastics is that the monomers are mostly derived from fossil hydrocarbons which are linked to problems that include climate change and biodiversity loss, furthermore, most fossil-based plastics are not biodegradable and hence can accumulate in the environment6,7.Thelargest market for plastics is as packaging materials8,9, but packaging materials unfortunately have a relatively short product life span5. After their use, much of the plastics are still, in Europe alone, disposed of without entering a sustainable and circular life cycle9. In Europe, packaging accounts for 39% of plastic usage9, and with single-use plastics comprising 50% of the plastic fraction (80−85%) of marine litter10. Due to the plastics’slow decomposition rates, they undergo long-term fragmentation when discarded in natural environments, with polluting secondary microplastics being released through photo-, physical, and biological processes7. According to the UN Environment program, an estimated 11 million tonnes of plastic generated on land enter the world’s oceans every year11. Ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) is a moisture-sensitive thermoplastic known for its outstanding oxygen barrier properties at low relative humidities due to the presence of -OH in its molecular structure12. In food packaging, EVOH extends the shelf-life of oxygensensitive foods by limiting the presence of oxygen and hence slowing down the degradation. For the oxygen barrier to be effective, EVOH must be sandwiched in a multilayer structure with other plastics, e.g. PE or PP, to protect it from moisture12,13. The disadvantages of EVOH include high carbon footprint, high production costs, and longevity, making it less economical. In particular, the multilaminar structures reduce the recycling possibilities of EVOH and, as a result, at the end of its life, EVOH is often incinerated or sent to landfills, where its biodegradability remains minimal14. Protein-based biopolymers are bio-based and biodegradable alternatives to EVOH. Pure protein materials are inherently stiff, often brittle and have quite high barrier properties towards gases in low to moderate moist conditions. This is due to the low molecular mobility caused by the stiff peptide bond, extensive dipolar interactions, hydrogen-bond network and the presence of bulky amino acid side groups15. This makes proteins, from a variety of plant and animal 1KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Fibre and Polymer Technology, Stockholm, SE-100 44, Sweden. 2TUS Technological University of the Shannon – Midlands Midwest, Centre for Polymer Sustainability, PRISM Research Institute, Athlone, Ireland. 3Avecom nv, Wondelgem, Ghent, 9032, Belgium. 4Valpromic nv, Wondelgem, Ghent, 9032, Belgium. e-mail: [email protected];[email protected];[email protected] Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 1 1234567890():,; 1234567890():,; sources, suitable as gas barrier layers in i.e. packaging. Examples of previously studied protein-based materials include wheat gluten, soy protein, bean, whey, collagen and keratin proteins15. A newer, but still underexplored, protein source is protein-rich microbial (yeast, bacteria, microalgae, fungi) biomass16–20. The advantages of such biomass include rapid growth rates, minimal landand water requirements, a low carbon footprint, and year-round flexibility, ensuring a steady supply of biodegradable material16,17. The sustainability of microbial biomass is influenced by the feedstock (organic wastewaters, agroindustrial side-streams, CO 2 etc)16,17,21 and both aerobic and anaerobic growth conditions have been investigated21, further enhancing its potential as a versatile and eco-friendly resource22.Bjurströmetal. developed microbial biomass-based films and evaluated their mechanical properties, moisture uptake behavior, and biodegradability in the context of circular bioeconomy applications. However, the films exhibited poor mechanical performance due to low internal cohesion, and the authors highlighted the importance of employing the correct pre-processing step during preparation17. In this study, we explore the potential of developing mechanically improved packaging materials derived from protein-rich (68%) bacterial biomass produced using liquid side streams from the potato processing industry. To evaluate the processability of this biomass, a prototype tray and thin films were fabricated. These were intended to function as potential oxygen barrier layers in multilayer packaging or as single layers in dry food applications. The biomass-based materials were thoroughly characterized for their oxygen barrier and mechanical properties, and their performance was then benchmarked against EVOH, highlighting their feasibility as sustainable alternatives in packaging applications. Results and discussion Protein-rich Microbial biomass (MB) Herein microbial biomass, in the form of spray-dried protein-rich multistrains of bacteria, was exploited in the preparation of the packaging material prototypes. The bacteria were cultivated using liquid side streams from potato processing. As expected the composition of the biomass, summarized in in Table 1, contained a variety of biomolecules including proteins (68.4%), lipids (5.4%), carbohydrates (12.2%), and a small amount of PHBV (2.8%). The protein fraction was quite high, which is typical for a protein-rich bacterial biomass23. The lipid composition and amino acid composition are provided in Supplementary Table 1 in the SI file. We note that the amino acid composition is similar but not identical to that of a previous high-protein material based on a bacterial mixed microbiome16. The composition of amino acid building blocks influences the chemical structure and material properties, which include mechanical properties, water uptake, barrier properties and biodegradability24–26. Prototype films and trays from protein-rich bacterial biomass The spray-dried biomass was processed into films and trays by compression molding, the different processing steps are summarized in Fig. 1a. The morphology of the starting spray-dried biomass and the final materials are presented in Fig. 1c (Supplementary Movie 1 and Supplementary Movie 2). The SEM images of MB powder (Fig. 1c, I) revealed a granular powder structure. Notably, no visible microbial organism shapes could be identified, neitherintheMBpowdernorinthebiofilms and the tray, suggesting that the spray-drying step effectively disrupted the bacteria. The average particle size of powder particles was ~20 µm. All types of processing, here spraydrying and hot pressing, are important for the final physicochemical properties of protein-based materials. This is because they disrupt molecular interactions and contribute to the unfolding of protein structures and the rearrangement of protein chains into new three-dimensional networks27. The present study is, to our knowledge, the first to use a commercially viable spray-drying step in the preparation of microbial biomass materials. Techniques including oven drying16,17 have previously been utilized, which generated MB flakes instead of particles. Additionally, MB in water has directly been homogenized and solvent-casted to generate films18,28,29. Here a plasticizer, glycerol, was added in the preparation of films and trays, which increased chain mobility and reduced the brittleness of the present high-protein materials. Although various plasticizers can be used with proteins30, we found, based on a large set of potential and known plasticizers, that glycerol was the most effective one for wheat gluten protein. Hence, it was used in the present study31. Unless specified otherwise, the films and tray were formulated with 25 wt% and 20 wt% glycerol, respectively. Initially, the tray was fabricated using a 25 wt% glycerol-blended MB material. However, that tray lost its original shape within a month, indicating the need for increased stiffness. By reducing the glycerol content to 20 wt%, a tray with sufficient stiffness over time, was successfully produced. The optical properties of the films are presented in Fig. 1d, with the optical properties of a PET film included as a comparison. A film that has an optical transmission >90% at 600 nm is transparent to the eye32. The present MB film had a total transmittance of 23% at 600 nm, making it significantly less transparent compared to that of a PET film. However, the MB film was also able to block UV light, with transmittance values of ~ 0% between 200−400 nm. This property is attractive in certain packaging materials that are designed to protect photosensitive food products, such as dairy products, from harmful UV radiation33. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements of neat MB powder, a glycerol-plasticized MB-based tray and film, further supported the presence of glycerol, observed as greater weight-loss with increasing glycerol content at temperatures above ~150 °C. For all three samples, the most significant weight loss was observed before ~ 270 °C, which is consistent with the thermal properties of other types of glycerol plasticized protein-rich microbial biomass materials16. We observed that our plasticized MB films were tacky, which is interesting as it can be used to create easily sealable/resealable packaging. As a demonstrator, we prepared a pouch containing low-density polyethylene pellets by folding and gently pressing the short edges of the formed pouch, as showninFig.2a. As the seams are not welded in Fig. 2a,thejointswerenot permanently sealed and the pouch could be re-opened by peeling the two film pieces apart. Additionally, as a demonstrator, two pieces of MB films were sealed together using a standard heat-sealing equipment, images after sealing are included in Fig. 2b. Chemical structure of the microbial biomass materials The physical and chemical modification of the initial protein-rich microbial biomass will influence the properties of the final materials. Here FTIR was used to understand the chemical changes as the MB powder was pressed into films and trays, and in particular the important secondary structure of the protein in the final materials because proteins were the largest constituent (Table 1) in the microbial biomass. These proteins, in accordance with other Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDP), contain a significant Table 1 | The molecular composition of protein-rich bacterial biomass Parameter Microbial Biomass Dry solids (%) 92.5% Total Fat (% - DS) 5.4% Protein (% -DS) 68.4% Carbohydrates (% -DS) 12.2% PHBV (% -DS) and (HB:HV composition) 2.8% and (0.6:0.4) Ash (%-DS) 7.3% Calcium (%-DS) 0.2% Potassium (%-DS) 2.3% Sodium (%-DS) 0.1% Total Phosphorus (%-DS) 1.3% DS –dry solids, values are based on a DS basis. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x Article Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 2 amount of unordered feature-less structures as well as self-assembled ordered secondary structures, such as α-helices, β-sheets and β-turns34.The FTIR spectra of the starting spray-dried MB powder with 25 wt% added glycerol, MB film (25 wt% glycerol) and tray (20 wt% glycerol) are presented in Fig. 3. In Supplementary Fig. 1 in the Supplementary Information, FTIR spectra are included for the MB films with different glycerol contents (20, 25 and 30 wt%). A difference between the MB powder and the hot-pressed film was primarily found in the amide I band region, 1700–1580 cm-1.The deconvoluted and resolved FTIR spectra are shown in Fig. 3b–d, and Supplementary Fig. 1b–d. By hot-pressing the MB powder/glycerol at 110°Cfor5minanincreaseofβ-sheets (1618 cm-1 and 1625 cm-1), with strongly hydrogen-bonded peptides, were observed, compare the relative sizes of the different components in Table 2. This observation aligns with a previous study16. Increasing the glycerol content (20–30 wt%), however, did not significantly enhance the amount of strongly hydrogen-bonded β-sheets (Supplementary Fig. 1 and Supplementary Table 2 in SI). An increased content of β-sheets can lead to increased stiffness and strength, particularly if arranged into nanofibrils35. The changes in secondary structure during a heat operation are also a consequence of the chemical changes occurring on an amino acid level. Disulfide-thiol interchange reactions, leading to polymerization and further crosslinking, is a commonly occurring feature at elevated temperature. Especially the content of both lysine and tyrosine was quite high in the MB (Supplementary Table 1), hence, isopeptide formation (involving lysine) and dityrosine crosslinking likely occurred during the hot pressing operation36. It should be noted that the FTIR spectra of the MB (see Fig. 3b–d) contained an additional strong band centered at ca. 1595 cm-1, Fig. 1 | The preparation steps, morphology and optical properties of microbial biomass based materials. a Spray-dried microbial biomass (MB) is converted into (b)films and trays by hot pressing. Plasticizer content: 25 wt% (Film) and 20 wt% glycerol (Tray). Scale bars: 2 cm. cScanning electron micrographs of (I) the spraydried MB powder, (II) cross-section of the MB tray, and the surface of a (III) MB film and (IV) MB tray. Scale bars: 100 µm (I), 500 µm (II), 5 µm (III) and 25 µm (IV). dThe total transmittance of a MB film (thickness 150 µm, red line), compared with a PET film (100 µm, black line). eThermal gravimetrical analysis of MB powder, (red line) a MB tray (black line) and MB film (blue line), with increasing amounts of glycerol (Gly). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x Article Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 3 which is normally not observed in the Amide I region for proteins. Therefore, it was not included in the secondary structure analysis. When the pressing time was extended from 5−25 min for tray formation, a decrease in strongly hydrogen-bonded β-sheets (with an increased amount of weakly hydrogen-bonded β-sheets) was observed (Table 2), as indicated by a comparison of relative peak areas at 1618 cm-1 and 1625 cm-1 between the MB film (20 wt% glycerol) and the MB tray. This suggests that longer heat treatments may potentially negatively impact the mechanical properties of microbial biomass materials. The mechanical properties of microbial biomass materials The mechanical performance of the produced biopolymer film and tray is summarized in Fig. 4. The tensile stress-strain curves of the materials exhibited a typical elastoplastic behavior; the film with 25 wt% glycerol had an elongation at break of 67 ± 8% (mean ± SD), while the tray, containing 20 wt% glycerol, demonstrated a slightly higher strain at break of 87 ± 23% (Fig. 4a, b). There was no significant difference between the Young’smoduli, whereas the maximum tensile stress values were slightly higher for the tray. This is despite the extended heat treatment time for the tray. The mechanical properties depend on the processing conditions, as exemplified previously16. In this study, the pressing temperature for the film and tray was set to 110 °C, with pressing times of 5 min for the film and 25 min for the tray. Singha et al.16 reported a decrease in stiffness for protein-rich single-cell materials when the compression time was increased from 5−15 min, particularly at the highest tested pressing temperature of 130 °C (110–130 °C tested). An opposite trend was observed for the maximal tensile stress, which increased with longer pressing times at 110 °C. These trends align well with the results presented in Fig. 4b, c. The elongation at break for the present materials was quite high, an order of magnitude higher than previous materials based on single-cell proteins16,17 or yeast cells29. The processing conditions influence ductility16,17, and we hypothesize that the pre-processing (spray-drying step) further influenced the cohesive properties of the MB films. Indeed, the spray-drying step appears to have efficiently ruptured the microbial cell membranes, eliminating most traces of intact microbes (Fig. 1c). The reported Young’s modulus (E) and maximum tensile strength values surpassed those of previous studies on films made from yeast cells29, or single-cell proteins16,17. The elastic moduli (65 ± 8 MPa and 55 ± 4 MPa, mean ± SD), maximum tensile stress (1.9 ± 0.1 MPa and 2.1 ± 0.1 MPa, mean ± SD), and elongation at break for the MB-based film and tray are comparable to those of plasticized protein isolate films, e.g. whey protein isolate films (E≈50 MPa, maximum tensile strength ≈4 MPa and elongation at break ≈100%)30. Yet, the stiffness and tensile strength were approximately an order of magnitude lower compared to those of fossilbased plastics (e.g. PE, PP). However, when compared to natural materials, these mechanical properties were better than certain types of soft tissue, and close to the mechanical properties of low-density cancellous bone, see Ashby-plots in Fig. 4e. This suggests that for applications requiring enhanced mechanical strength, MB films should be incorporated into a multilayer structure, analogous to the configuration typically employed with EVOH. Oxygen Barrier properties of microbial biomass materials Protein films are highly valued for their excellent oxygen barrier properties, making them ideal for certain food packaging and preservation Fig. 2 | The microbial biomass film as a potential sealable/resealable packaging material. a A glycerol-plasticized (25 wt%) microbial biomass (MB)-based film (7.4 cm × 7.4 cm) is tacky and can be folded into a pouch by gently pressing edges together. The pouch can be re-opened, because the edges are not permanently sealed. bTwo MB film pieces were sealed together by applying pressure and heat. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x Article Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 4 applications15,37. This is particularly important when protecting oxygensensitive products from oxidation, which include food products like meats, dairy, and oils that are prone to spoilage in the presence of oxygen38.InFig.5, the oxygen permeability coefficient (OP) of five commercial plastic films is compared with that of the MB-based film containing 25 wt% glycerol. The average permeability coefficient for the MB film was measured at 0.33 ± 0.7 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1(mean ± SD), demonstrating a significantly lower permeability than that of the commercial polymers PS, PE, PP and PET at 50% relative humidity (RH) and 23 °C. The reported oxygen permeability coefficient values (OP) for the MB-based filmsisanaverageof five measurements (0, 0, 0.095, 0 and 1.5 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1). We note that three of the OP measurements (0 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1)arebelowthe oxygen permeance detection limit of the instrument. If one instead assumes an oxygen permeance of 0.2 cm3m-2 day-1 atm-1 for these three films, the average OP value will be 0.35 ± 0.66 cm3mm m-2 day−1atm-1. We hypothesize that the low OP of the MB-based filmsisduetothe limited plasticizer content (25 wt% glycerol), which remained below the percolation threshold for glycerol39.Thishypothesiswasfurthersupported by increasing the glycerol content to 30 wt%, which resulted in a significantly higher average OP of 16.9 ± 4.2 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1 under identical experimental conditions (50% RH, 23 °C). Interestingly the OP value at 30 wt% glycerol loading is comparable to the oxygen permeability coefficient range of 17.7–20.8 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1 (50% RH, 23 °C), previously reported for plasticized single-cell protein-based films containing 30 wt% glycerol16. The reported oxygen permeability coefficient values for the MB-based film at 30 wt% glycerol is an average of three measurements (15.7, 21.5 and 13.4). The average OP (0.33 ± 0.7 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1) for the MB film with 25 wt% glycerol fell within the range of OP values reported for EVOH (0.04–0.4 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1 at 50% RH and 23 °C)4. EVOH is widely used in food packaging because it extends the shelf life of oxygen-sensitive foods by minimizing oxygen permeance and thereby slowing down food degradation. The excellent oxygen barrier properties of EVOH are due to the presence of hydroxyl (-OH) groups in its molecular structure and impermeable crystals, the former performing effectively in blocking gas transport at low relative humidities12. Other relevant high oxygen barrier packaging polymers include poly(- vinylidene chloride) (PVDC) and poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) that demonstrate OP values of 0.01–0.3 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1 and 0.5 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1, respectively1. Our MB film has an OP value that is lower than PEN and at the upper boundary value for PVDC. To conclude, the bacterial biomass films studied here show promise as efficient oxygen barrier alternatives to EVOH, PEN and PVDC. Conclusions The ability to limit oxygen transfer, combined with their sustainability, positions protein films as a promising solution for reducing food waste and plastic pollution. In this study, protein-rich (68%, dry basis) microbial biomass was processed into film and tray prototypes via compression molding. Glycerol functioned effectively as a plasticizing agent for the microbial biomass (MB), enhancing its suitability for application in biofilms and tray formats. The application of spray-drying as a pre-processing step, effectively disrupted cellular morphology and improved material homogeneity, thereby offering a scalable and industrially relevant approach. Additionally, the films displayed intrinsic tackiness, which could be exploited in the design of resealable packaging systems. Mechanical characterization revealed elastoplastic behavior with an elongation at break Fig. 3 | The chemical structure of microbial biomass (MB) materials. FTIR spectra for (a) the MB powder with 25 wt% glycerol (Gly, blue line), a MB film (25 wt% Gly, black line) and MB tray (20 wt% Gly, orange line). In (b,c,d): deconvoluted FTIR spectra in the amide I region 1580–1700 cm-1. The black dotted lines are experimental base-line corrected FTIR data. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x Article Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 5 (67–87%), maximal strength (≈2MPa) andstiffness(55–65 MPa). These mechanical properties surpass those of previously reported single cell protein (SCP)-based films and are similar to those of films based on plasticized whey protein isolates. The plasticized MB demonstrated excellent oxygen barrier properties (0.33 ± 0.7 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1) at standard testing conditions (50% RH and 23 °C). These values are comparable to those of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) layers (0.04–0.4 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1 at 50% RH and 23 °C), which are widely utilized in multilayer packaging systems requiring high oxygen barrier properties. Overall, the results demonstrate the feasibility of microbial biomassderived films as sustainable and high-performance alternatives to petroleum-based polymers, particularly in packaging applications where high oxygen barrier properties are required. This work contributes to the advancement of circular bio-based materials and supports broader efforts Table 2 | Secondary structures of the proteins (Cho et al.34) present in the MB films and tray with different glycerol contents Secondary structure Powder MB Film MB Tray Glycerol content (wt%) 25 25 20 20 Position (cm-1) Assignment Relative area of gaussian components (%) 1680 β-Sheets, weakly hydrogen-bonded peptide groups 6.5 (1.2) n.a. n.a. 7.7 (1.9) 1667 β-Turns 21.5 (2.6) 26.8 (0.5) 30.9 (0.4) 23.0 (4.1) 1658 α-Helices n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 1651 α-Helices and random coils 25.8 (2.3) 12.1 (1.9) 11.0 (1.1) 25.6 (3.6) 1644 Unordered n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 1634 β-Sheets, weakly hydrogen-bonded peptide groups 20.9 (3.0) 11.8 (8.6) 15.6 (5.6) 22.0 (3.4) 1625 βSheets, strongly hydrogen-bonded peptide groups n.a. 2.2 (1.4) 3.2 (1.2) n.a. 1618 βSheets, strongly hydrogen-bonded peptide groups 25.4 (4.2) 47.1 (17.6) 39.3 (10.7) 21.6 (3.9) Secondary structures summarized (%) (%) (%) (%) β-Turns 21.5 26.8 30.9 23.0 α-Helices and random coils/unordered 25.8 12.1 11.0 25.6 β-Sheets, weakly hydrogen-bonded peptide 27.4 11.8 15.6 29.7 βSheets, strongly hydrogen-bonded peptide groups 25.4 49.3 42.5 21.6 n.a. not attained. The values within parenthesis are the uncertainties of the optimized values. Fig. 4 | Mechanical properties for microbial biomass (MB) based materials and other engineered or natural materials. a Tensile stress-strain curves for the MBbased film (black line) and tray (red line), plasticized with 25 wt% and 20 wt% glycerol respectively. bYoung’s modulus, (c) maximum tensile stress and (d) strainat-break. Average and standard error calculated from n=3(film) and n= 7 (tray). eTwo Ashby plots, showing stiffness versus tensile strength properties for different engineering materials and natural materials, including the MB-based materials (yellow dots). Drawn after D. U. Shah2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x Article Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 6 aimed at reducing plastic waste and decreasing dependency on petrochemical-derived packaging systems. Materials and methods Materials Spray dried protein rich microbial biomass (ValProMic) was obtained from Avecom Nv, Ghent, Belgium. The microbial biomass is derived from bacteria and is based on a patented process (BE 1021400)40. The bacteria were cultivated using liquid side streams from potato processing (process water from cutting potatoes into pieces). The composition of the biomass is presented in Supplementary Table 1 (Supplementary information). The biomass was stored in a vacuum desiccator until further processing. Glycerol (Gly) with 99% purity was purchased from Special Ingredients Europe (the Netherlands). Preparation of MB/glycerol blends Glycerol was added in different proportions to the microbial biomass powder in a glass beaker and thoroughly mixed with a flat spatula until the mixture became lump-free. After mixing, blends were left to dry in a vacuum desiccator until further use. Production of MB films and tray Preparation of MB films:The dried blend was evenly distributed into a rectangular mold (Steel, ca. 11 cm×7 cm, thickness 100 ± 7 μm,) and the sample mold was covered with a PET film on each side. The mold setup was then inserted between 3 mm metal plates, which were placed in a compression molder (Fontijne Press-TP 400, Netherlands) for the pressing operation. The pressing parameters are reported in Table 3.Afterhotpressing (5 min), the machine was cooled down (from 110 °C) to room temperature utilizing an automatic water-cooling system with an average cooling rate of 24 °C min-1.Theobtainedfilms had a thickness of ca. 0.10.3 mm. The films were stored in a vacuum desiccator prior to further testing. Preparation of prototype tray: The blended powder was filled into the rectangular female steel mold, which was covered with a PET sheet to be able to remove the tray. The rectangular mold dimensions were 10.5 cm × 7.5 cm (Supplementary Fig. 2). A male mold covered also with a PET sheet was placed on top of the female mold. The whole assembly was placed into the press that was preheated to 110 °C. Distance pins on the female part ensured that the final tray thickness became ca. 2 mm. The processing parameters are reported in Table 3. After the 25 min, the same cooling procedure as with the films was used. Sealing of MB films: Two MB-films were placed in a Fermat 400 impulse sealer (Joke Mechanix, Germany), and heat-sealed together using minimum values of heat pulse time (1.5 s) and press time (1.5 s). Characterization Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the surface and cross-sectional morphology of the samples were attained with a FE-SEM (Hitachi S-4800, Japan). Prior imaging, the samples were dried in a vacuum desiccator. Samples were mounted on a conductive carbon adhesive tape and sputtercoated with Cr using an Agar high-resolution sputter coater (model 208H) for 30 s. UV−Vis spectrophotometry was performed using a UV−Vis spectrophotometer (Shimadzu UV 2550, Japan). The total transmittance measurements were conducted utilizing the ISR-2200 integrating sphere and BaSO 4 as the standard white reference. Tensile measurements were assessed with an Instron 5966 device (Instron), equipped with 100 kN or 500 kN load cells. Specimens in the form of strips (length 70 mm, width 10 mm) were prepared and tested at a crosshead speed of 5 mm min−1and with a grip separation of 20 mm. The sample thickness was determined by taking an average of three measurements. The results were reported as mean values and standard deviations (or standard errors) from at least three measurements. FTIR Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analyses of the films and tray were performed using a Perkin Elmer Spectrum 100 FT-IR spectrometer in attenuated total reflection mode. Spectra were recorded from 600−4000 cm-1 with 32 scans and a resolution of 4 cm-1. Prior to each measurement, the films were placed in a vacuum desiccator for a minimum of 48 h. The amide I region (1700−1580 cm-1) was deconvoluted using the Multiple Peak Fit function (iteration algorithm: Levenberg Marquardt) in Origin 2020. Each spectrum of the amide I region (1700−1580 cm-1)was first baseline corrected. During optimization the positions of the centres of the Gaussian-shaped peaks were fixed. Oxygen permeability The oxygen permeability coefficients were attained using a PermeO 2 (ExtraSolution, Italy) that complies with ASTM Fig. 5 | Oxygen permeability coefficients for the microbial biomass (MB) films and commercial fossile-based materials. a A microbial biomassbased film with 25 wt% glycerol. Scale bar: 1 cm. bComparing the oxygen permeability coefficients (OP) of five commercial fossile-based materials (PS, PE, PP, PET and EVOH) and the MB-film. The OP ranges for PET, EVOH and the MB film are reported within parentheses. The average OP for the microbial biomass film was 0.33 cm3mm m-2 day-1 atm-1 (n= 5). OP values for PS, PE, PP and PET are derived from Lange et al.1. OP for EVOH from Michiels et al.4. All oxygen permeability coefficients were obtained at 50% RH and 23 °C. Table 3 | Compression conditions for the films and tray Biopolymer Composition (%) Compression parameters Material SCP (wt%) Glycerol (wt%) Press Temperature (°C) Press Time (min) Force (kN) Thickness (mm) Filma75 25 110 5 70-250 0.1-0.3 Prototype Tray 80 20 110 25 30 2 aThe same compression parameters were used for the MB films with 20 and 30 wt% glycerol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x Article Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 7 D3985. Measurements were performed using 99.9995% specialty grade oxygen, at 50% RH, 23 °C and 1 bar (partial pressure difference). The MBfilms with 25 wt% glycerol and 30 wt% glycerol had a thickness of 0.240 ± 0.080 mm and 0.220 ± 0.050 mm, respectively. These were masked with aluminum foil with a 1.6 cm diameter hole (area 2.01 cm2). For masked films, the instrument has a lower detection limit for the oxygen permeance of 0.2 cm3m-2 day-1 atm-1. Thermal Gravimetrical Analysis (TGA) was performed with a TGAQ5000 instrument, using a heating rate of 10 °C' min−1from 30 °C to 800 °C. Amodified atmosphere (100% N 2 ) was used with a gas flow rate of 50 mL min-1. Data availability The authors declare that the relevant data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its supplementary information files. Numerical source data for graphs (FTIR, Mechanical and OP data) are provided as Supplementary Data 1. All data are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Received: 7 April 2025; Accepted: 18 September 2025; References 1. Lange, J. & Wyser, Y. Recent innovations in barrier technologies for plastic packaging—a review. Packaging Technol. Sci. 16, 149–158 (2003). 2. Shah, D. U. Natural fibre composites: comprehensive ashby-type materials selection charts. Mater. Des. (1980-2015) 62,21–31 (2014). 3. Andrady, A. L. & Neal, M. A. Applications and societal benefits of plastics. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B: Biol. Sci. 364, 1977–1984 (2009). 4. Michiels, Y., Puyvelde, P. V. & Sels, B. Barriers and chemistry in a bottle: mechanisms in today’s oxygen barriers for tomorrow’s materials. Appl. Sci. 7, 665 (2017). 5. Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R. & Law, K. L. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Sci. Adv. 3, e1700782 (2017). 6. Wagner, M. et al. Microplastics in freshwater ecosystems: what we know and what we need to know. Environ. Sci. Eur. 26, 12 (2014). 7. Kubowicz, S. & Booth, A. M. Biodegradability of plastics: challenges and misconceptions. Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 12058–12060 (2017). 8. PlasticsEurope. Plastics –the Facts 2013.https://plasticseurope.org/ knowledge-hub/plastics-the-facts-2013/ (2023). 9. PlasticsEurope. The Circular Economy for Plastics–A European Analysis 2024.https://plasticseurope.org/knowledge-hub/thecircular-economy-for-plastics-a-european-analysis-2024/ (2025). 10. European Union. D irective (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the Reduction of the Impact of Certain Plastic Products on the Environment (Text with EEA Relevance).https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/904/oj/eng (2019). 11. Programme,U.N. E.From Pollution To Solution: A Global Assessment Of Marine Litter And Plastic Pollution. https://www.unep.org/ resources/pollution-solution-global-assessment-marine-litter-andplastic-pollution (2021). 12. Emblem, A. In Packaging Technology (eds Anne Emblem & Henry Emblem) 287−309 (Woodhead Publishing, 2012). 13. Brody, A. L. In Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology (eds Carl A. Batt & Mary Lou Tortorello) 1017−1027 (Academic Press, 2014). 14. Barros, C., Carneiro, O. S. & Machado, A. V. Feasibility of incorporating recycled multilayer LDPE/EVOH films into flexible packaging. Polym. Eng. Sci. 64, 3530–3542 (2024). 15. Gómez-Estaca, J., Gavara, R., Catalá, R. & Hernández-Muñoz, P. The potentialof proteinsfor producingfood packagingmaterials:a review. Packaging Technol. Sci. 29, 203–224 (2016). 16. Singha, S. et al. Novel bioplastic from single cell protein as a potential packaging material. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 9, 6337–6346 (2021). 17. Bjurström, A. et al. Single-cell protein bioplastic films from recovered nitrogen and carbon with high anaerobic biodegradability and biogas potential at end-of-life. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 12, 15603–15612 (2024). 18. Papadaki, A., Lappa, I. K., Kachrimanidou, V., Gonou-Zagou, Z. & Kopsahelis, N. Trametes versicolor as a natural source of bioactive compounds for the production of whey protein films with functional properties: a holistic approach to valorize cheese whey. Waste Biomass-. Valoriz. 13, 3989–3998 (2022). 19. García-Bramasco,C.A.et al.Influenceofmarineyeastdebaryomyces hansenii on antifungal and physicochemical properties of chitosanbased films. J. Fungi 8, 369 (2022). 20. Guliani, E. & Jeyaseelan, C. In Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science (eds Inamuddin, Tariq Altalhi, & Arwa Alrooqi) 395−412 (Elsevier, 2023). 21. Zhuang, Z. et al. Metabolic engineering for single-cell protein production from renewable feedstocks and its applications. Adv. Biotechnol. 2, 35 (2024). 22. Khoshnevisan, B., Tsapekos, P., Zhang, Y., Valverde-Pérez, B. & Angelidaki, I. Urban biowaste valorization by coupling anaerobic digestion and single cell protein production. Bioresour. Technol. 290, 121743 (2019). 23. Sakarika, M., Candry, P., Depoortere, M., Ganigué, R. & Rabaey, K. Impact of substrate and growth conditions on microbial protein production and composition. Bioresour. Technol. 317, 124021 (2020). 24. Zax, D. B., Armanios, D. E., Horak, S., Malowniak, C. & Yang, Z. Variation of mechanical properties with amino acid content in the silk of nephila clavipes. Biomacromolecules 5, 732–738 (2004). 25. Johnson, J. C. & Korley, L. T. J. Enhanced mechanical pathways through nature’s building blocks: amino acids. Soft Matter 8, 11431–11442 (2012). 26. Liu, T. et al. Enhancing protein stability with extended disulfide bonds. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 113, 5910–5915 (2016). 27. Zhao, D. In Flavor-Associated Applications in Health and Wellness Food Products (eds Xiaofen Du & Jun Yang) 295−319 (Springer International Publishing, 2024). 28. Papadaki, A. et al. Tuning the physical and functional properties of whey protein edible films: effect of pH and inclusion of antioxidants from spent coffee grounds. Sustain. Chem. Pharm. 27, 100700 (2022). 29. Koukoumaki, D. I., Papanikolaou, S., Ioannou, Z., Gkatzionis, K. & Sarris, D. The development of novel edible films from single-cell protein produced by the biotechnological valorization of cheese whey. Appl. Microbiol. 4, 1030–1041 (2024). 30. Hernandez-Izquierdo, V. M. & Krochta, J. M. Thermoplastic processing of proteins for film formation—a review. J. Food Sci. 73, R30–R39 (2008). 31. Hedenqvist, M., Ullsten, H. & Gällstedt, M. In Viscoelastic and Viscoplastic Materials (ed Mohamed F. El-Amin) (IntechOpen, 2016). 32. Wongwatcharapaiboon, J., Chankasem, C., Lertwattanarak, P. & Riffat, S. A novel synthesis of light transmission from upcycled polyethylene terephthalate polymer and low-density polyethylene for greenhouse design in tropical climate. Int. J. Low.-Carbon Technol. 18, 1182–1191 (2023). 33. Csapó, J., József, P., Albert, C. & Sipos, P. Effect of UV light on food quality and safety. Acta Universitat. Sapientia. Alimentaria 12,21–41 (2019). 34. Cho,S. W.,Gällstedt, M.,Johansson,E.& Hedenqvist,M.S. Injectionmolded nanocomposites and materials based on wheat gluten. Int J. Biol. Macromol. 48, 146–152 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x Article Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 8 35. Ye, X. et al. Protein/protein nanocomposite based on whey protein nanofibrils in a whey protein matrix. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 6, 5462–5469 (2018). 36. Johansson, E. et al. Wheat gluten polymer structures: the impact of genotype, environment, and processing on their functionality in various applications. Cereal Chem. 90, 367–376 (2013). 37. Mafe, A. N. et al. A review on food spoilage mechanisms, food borne diseases and commercial aspects of food preservation and processing. Food Chem. Adv. 5, 100852 (2024). 38. Gaikwad, K. K., Singh, S. &Lee, Y. S. Oxygen scavenging films in food packaging. Environ. Chem. Lett. 16, 523–538 (2018). 39. Özeren, H. D., Olsson, R. T., Nilsson, F. & Hedenqvist, M. S. Prediction of plasticization in a real biopolymer system (starch) using molecular dynamics simulations. Mater. Des. 187, 108387 (2020). 40. Verstraete, W., Kregersman, B. & Vervaet, S. Verbeterde Werkwijze Voor Winning Van Proteïnen Uit Proceswater.https://patents.google. com (2015). Acknowledgements The EcoPlastiC project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder programme under grant agreement No 101046758. The microbial biomass (MB) image in Fig. 1a was created with BioRender.com. Author contributions K.R.B., K.W. and H.K. prepared MB materials. K.R.B. and E.G. performed TGA, UV-Vis, SEM and mechanical tests and analysis. B.S.C., C.V. and M.B.F. performed and analyzed Oxygen Permeability tests. M.H. performed the tackiness and sealing experiments. A.J.S. performed FT-IR and UV-vis measurements and analysis, wrote the first draft and made all illustrations. M.H. and A.J.S. supervised the project and K.R.B. contributed to manuscript writing. All authors have read and revised the manuscript. Funding Open access funding provided by Royal Institute of Technology. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Additional information Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Kiran Reddy Baddigam, Mikael Hedenqvist or Anna J. Svagan. Peer review information Communications Chemistry thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer reiew of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available. Reprints and permissions information is available at http://www.nature.com/reprints Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2025 https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01720-x Article Communications Chemistry | (2025) 8:297 9