120 pages ; It is estimated that 30 – 40% of the global food supply is wasted each year, largely due to physiochemical degradation reactions leading to consumer rejection of the food product. Nonmigratory active packaging is an emerging technology that has the potential to extend the shelf life of food while also adhering to consumer “clean” label demands with fewer preservatives and additives. In this work, we characterize the interfacial behavior of the previously synthesized polylactic acid-graft-nitrilotriacetic acid (PLA-g-NTA) polymer films through the determination of the carboxylate pKa of the NTA moieties (3.97 & 8.99). Furthermore, the results of a pH dependent ABTS radical scavenging assay demonstrated the use of the NTA grafted films as an antioxidant active packaging material in pH’s above 6.74, thus emphasizing the importance of applications-based research to predict performance in complex food matrices. Next, a nonmigratory active packaging material was developed through a condensation reaction of the primary amines of branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) and the maleic anhydride moieties of polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride blended with polypropylene (PP¬-g-MA). PEI is a polycation with reported chelation, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties. The grafting was confirmed through ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, where the blue shift of the C=O stretching of the PP-g-MA from 1708 cm -1 to 1702 cm -1 post extrusion suggests the formation of the maleimide group in the treated sample. The nonmigratory status of the treated polymer was confirmed with a 10 - day migration assay in food relevant solvents with a maximum migration rate of 0.022 mg / cm 2 in 3% acetic, significantly below the EU threshold of 0.1 mg / cm 2. An AO7 amine density assay confirmed the introduction of 7.22 nmol / cm 2 surface oriented primary amines, while a TBO carboxylic acid density assay confirmed the disappearance of surface bound carboxylic acids of PP-g-MA after extrusion with PEI, suggesting a successful condensation ...