Comparison between Cellulose Blend Films Prepared from Aqueous Sodium Hydroxide Solution and Edible Films of Biopolymers with Possible Application for New Food Materials

Abstract

Cellulose treated by a steam explosion method can be dissolved into aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. The regenerated cellulose shaped from the cellulose-dissolving system can be used as a food material with various shapes, such as fiber, film, and particles. In the present study, the cellulose was blended with polysaccharides, and the structure and mechanical properties of cellulose-polysaccharide blend films were compared with commercial edible films. The tensile strength, tensile elongation, and bursting strength of cellulose-starch blend films in wet conditions were comparable to those of sheep casings and collagen films. In the viscoelastic measurements, mechanical properties of commercially available films of biopolymers such as starch, pullulan, and agar were greatly influenced by temperature and moisture; however, cellulose-starch blend films were much less influenced. This is a new characteristic achieved by blending starch with cellulose. Cellulose and cellulose-starch blend films were resistant to hot water, i.e., keeping their film forms in hot water. Moreover, disintegration of the blend films commonly seen in hot water can be controlled by blending carrageenan or sodium alginate as a third component.

Physical‐Mechanical Properties of Agar/κ‐Carrageenan Blend Film and Derived Clay Nanocomposite Film

“…Blending of polymers has widely been used in polymer manufacturing industry because of the strong economic incentives and combined advantages of components with better properties compared to the individual component (Yu and others 2006). Blend films with various natural biopolymers have been tested to exploit the improvement of packaging properties owing to their variability in physical properties and/or their interaction (Coffin and Fishman 1994; Zhai and others 2004; Roh and Shin 2006; Kristo and others 2007; Wu and others 2009; Alves and others 2010; Miyamoto and others 2011; Abugoch and others 2011; Yoo and Krochta 2011). However, the properties of polymer blends depend greatly not only on their chemical structure but also on interactions between components.…”

Antioxidant and antibacterial starch-based edible films composed of eugenol/gelatin microspheres

“…Therefore, a series of natural macromolecules are used to mix with starch to form a composite film, such as chitosan, 6 pullulan polysaccharide, 7 gelatin 8 and cellulose. 9 The combination of amylose and amylopectin is considered a potential strategy to solve the defects of films.…”