Nowadays, the end-of-life of plastic products and the decrease of fossil energy are great environmental problems. Moreover, with the increase of food and nonfood transformations of renewable resources, the quantities of agro-industrial byproducts and wastes increase hugely. These facts allow the development of plastic substitutes made from agro-resources. Many researches show the feasibility of molding biopolymers extracted from plants like a common polymeric matrix. Other natural macromolecules are used like fillers into polyolefins, for example. However, limited works present results about the transformation of a natural blend of biopolymers into a plastic material. The aim of this study is the determination of the composition of sunflower cake (SFC) and also the characterization of its components. These were identified by chemical and biochemical analysis often used in agricultural or food chemistry. Most of the extraction and purification processes modify the macrostructure of several biopolymers (e.g., denaturation of proteins, cleavage or creation of weak bonds, etc.). So, the composition of different parts of the sunflower seed (husk, kernel, and also protein isolate) was determined, and the plasticlike properties of their components were studied with thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and a dynamic mechanical thermal analysis apparatus. Finally, this indirect way of characterization showed that SFC can be considered a natural composite. In SFC, several components like lignocellulosic fibers [40%/dry matter (DM)], which essentially come from the husk of sunflower seed, can act as fillers. However, other biopolymers like globulins ( approximately 30% of the 30% of sunflower seed proteins/DM of SFC) can be shaped as a thermoplastic-like material because this kind of protein has a temperature of glass transition and a temperature of denaturation that seems to be similar to a melting temperature. These proteins have also viscoelastic properties. Moreover, SFC has similar rheological properties and other physicochemical properties compatible with shaping or molding behaviors of plastic-processing machinery.

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