Milled wood lignin (MWL) was isolated from Dendrocalamus sinicus, an abundant bamboo variety in the earth, using Bjorkman method. Elucidation and quantification of the chemical structures for the isolated MWL have been facilitated by employing FT-IR and NMR techniques. The obtained results showed that the MWL consists of syringyl (S), guaiacyl (G), and p-hydroxyphenyl (H) units, indicating it as grass type (HGS) lignin. There is no significant change in structure (i.e. cleavage at α-O-4′ and β-O-4′ linkage) was observed. NMR techniques indicated that the isolated lignin was rich in β-O-4′ aryl ether substructures and syringyl (S) units. Furthermore, the sufficient understanding of the chemical structure of the lignin benefits their effective utilization towards the production of renewable biomass and biofuels. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Renewable environmentally friendly polysaccharides and their composites meet the requirements of green chemistry, which have been extensively used for biodegradable food packaging applications. Renewable polysaccharides include cellulose, nanocellulose, hemicellulose, chitosan, starch, pectin, etc. The present study is divided into biomass-based composites (cellulose, nanocellulose, and hemicellulose), chitosan-based composites, and other polysaccharide-based composites (starch, pectin, etc.). Special attention has been paid to various synthetic strategies, intrinsic microstructures, inherent properties, and potential food packaging applications. The differences among these renewable polysaccharide-based composites were comparably reviewed with detailed examples. The problems and future research on renewable polysaccharide-based composites are suggested for biodegradable food packaging applications. It is expected that the potential superiority of polysaccharide-based composites in food packaging will promote the development of green chemistry.