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The use of alginates as films in food applications has increased in the recent years due to their swelling capacity and overall functionality. This behaviour is a result of their capacity to crosslink with Ca²⁺ ion. Aiming to fully understand the effect of calcium chloride (CaCl₂) crosslinking and the mannuronic (M) and guluronic (G) acid ratio (M/G) of alginate structure in the films' properties, alginate-based films with different (M/G) ratios were crosslinked at increasing CaCl₂ concentrations. Films were produced by casting, and characterized in terms of mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation-at-break), opacity, water sensitivity (moisture content, solubility and water vapour permeability) and morphology, evaluated by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Chemical interactions were studied by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to assess possible chemical modifications of alginate-based films …