Biodegradable polymers, such as starch, cellulose, and derivatives thereof, are being studied to produce innovative packaging in the most diverse shapes (films, bags, trays, bottles, etc.) to attend this current market trend. The aim of this work was to produce foam trays from cassava starch for food packaging via extrusion followed by thermoforming process. Their formulations were based on unirradiated and γ-irradiated starches at diverse radiation absorbed doses (in kGy) in order to evaluate the influence of the irradiated starches on the physical properties of the trays. Water absorption results showed an irregular increase with the increase of the absorbed dose (for example, 26.32% and 39.84% for the trays based on unirradiated starch 0 kGy and 1:1 (w/w) mixture of starches 0 kGy and 100.0 kGy, respectively). Other physicochemical properties were evaluated from the starches utilized and the trays obtained. Aerobic biodegradation of the foams by mass loss also was checked in soil burial test.
Active biodegradable packaging foams type were developed, obtained from cassava starch, to increase the shelf-life of minimally processed fruits. For this, active agents that prevent the proliferation of fungi, weight loss and, still, provide a visual indication (change of packaging color) of the packaged product quality, were added to the renewable packaging. The foams were obtained by extrusion and thermopressing processes of a mixture of starch, gel (starch suspended in water) and additives (plasticizers and/or active agents). The foams formulations varied as: the type and concentrations of plasticizers (glycerol and polyethylene glycol-PEG 300); the concentrations of solid (cassava starch powder); the different treatments of starch (chemical, for acetylation, and physical modifications-radiation and pre-gelatinization); the starch suppliers (from Bahia and Paraná); the reuse of discarded foams; the different active agents (l-ascorbic acid, calcium chloride, potassium sorbate and potassium permanganate) and the addition of natural dyes (beet and cabbage extracts). It was evaluated, mainly, the mechanical and barrier properties of the different formulations of cassava starch foams. The results indicated that the higher starch concentration more resistant become the foam. The foams containing the plasticizer PEG 300 proved to be very flexible, had good tensile strength and absorbed less water. The pre-gelatinization of starch provided better mechanical and barrier properties to foams in comparison with other treatments of cassava starch. The addition of active agents to the mix did not provide such improvements to packaging. The cassava starch foams produced by extrusion followed by thermopressing were more resistant to breakage than those produced only by thermopressing.
The present work firstly aimed to obtain cellulose from sugarcane bagasse by using alkaline methods in pulping/delignifying and, at bleaching stages, using sodium chlorite, glacial acetic acid, and hydrogen peroxide, associated to NaOH/KOH. The process was carried out at temperatures varying from 55˚C to 110˚C, under magnetic stirring in various steps lasting from 2 h to 12 h. The yields of the two cellulose extracted, SCB24-Na-I and SCB24-Na-II, were 37% and 41%, respectively, from samples of ca. 15 g of the bagasse. Secondly, it is to extract nanoparticles from the obtained celluloses via acid hydrolysis (with 77% H 2 SO 4) to lately be tested as reinforcement in biodegradable packagings. Both celluloses and their respective nanoparticles were characterized by several techniques, among them ATR-FTIR, DSC-TGA, XRD, SEM, and TEM. Despite that the yields of cellulose nanoparticles have been low, the preliminary studies of their use in biodegradable films coated on biodegradable pots were promising.
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