Starch granules containing amylopectin-rich fractions like sago starch may remain insoluble and undamaged decreasing properties of the film. The aim of this study is to characterize native sago starch films prepared using ultrasonication. An ultrasonication probe was used during gelatinization for 2.5, 5, and 10 min respectively. Ultrasonication decreases the incomplete gelatinized granules resulting in a film with a more compact structure, and lower moisture vapor permeability than non-treated film. The longest duration resulted in a film with the highest transparency, and the highest thermal resistance. The duration for 5 min increased tensile strength of the film by 227%, and its moisture absorption decreased by 29.83% compared to non-sonicated film. After ultrasonication for 10 min, melting temperature increased by 7% in comparison to non-sonicated film. This work promotes a simple method to improve the tensile and physical properties of starch based film.

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Good transparency, antimicrobial, physical, and tensile properties of the biodegradable film can be necessary for food packaging. The aim of this study is to characterize these properties of the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/ginger nanofiber (GF) bionanocomposite film. This nanofiber of 0.21, 0.31 and 0.41 g in suspensions, was mixed with PVA gel using ultrasonication. After addition of ginger nanofibers, the bionanocomposite film shows antibacterial activity but does not have antifungi activity. Increasing the nanofiber into PVA increases significantly in tensile properties, water vapour impermeability, and moisture resistance. Tensile strength, the temperature at maximum film decomposition, and moisture resistance (after 8 h) of the 0.41 g ginger nanofiber reinforced film were 44.2 MPa (increased by 65.6%), 349.4 °C (increased by 7%), and 6.1% (decreased by 18.7%), respectively compared to pure PVA. With this nanofiber loading, the transparency of the bionanocomposite film decreased slightly. These results suggest this bionanocomposite film has potential in food packaging in industrial applications.

Nowadays, most advanced technologies utilize materials from finite non-renewable resources, such as fossil fuels, minerals, and metal ores. With the recent attention on exploring substitutes to non-renewable resources and highlighting the reduced environmental impacts, researches are progressively being focused at the development of biodegradable materials from biocomposite and biopolymer-based materials. This review paper aims at reporting on very recent development in biopolymer and biocomposite. Biocomposites cater to a substantial non-food market for agro residuederived resins and fibres. Recently, biopolymer and biocomposite with controllable lifespans have become a main subject for various applications and fields. This paper is a timely review since there has been recent renewed attention in research studies, for both industry and academia concerning the development of new generation of biocomposite and biopolymerbased materials having potential uses in other areas.