Valorization of Starch to Biobased Materials: A Review

Abstract

Many concerns are being expressed about the biodegradability, biocompatibility, and long-term viability of polymer-based substances. This prompted the quest for an alternative source of material that could be utilized for various purposes. Starch is widely used as a thickener, emulsifier, and binder in many food and non-food sectors, but research focuses on increasing its application beyond these areas. Due to its biodegradability, low cost, renewability, and abundance, starch is considered a “green path” raw material for generating porous substances such as aerogels, biofoams, and bioplastics, which have sparked an academic interest. Existing research has focused on strategies for developing biomaterials from organic polymers (e.g., cellulose), but there has been little research on its polysaccharide counterpart (starch). This review paper highlighted the structure of starch, the context of amylose and amylopectin, and the extraction and modification of starch with their processes and limitations. Moreover, this paper describes nanofillers, intelligent pH-sensitive films, biofoams, aerogels of various types, bioplastics, and their precursors, including drying and manufacturing. The perspectives reveal the great potential of starch-based biomaterials in food, pharmaceuticals, biomedicine, and non-food applications.

Properties Comparison of Oxidized and Heat Moisture Treated (HMT) Starch-Based Biodegradable Films

“…Starch is one of the few renewable resources that can form films and meets all the key criteria, including ease of availability, high extraction yield, nutritional value, affordability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and edibility, thus possessing functional qualities. It is, therefore, a potential substance for edible coatings and films [19,52,53]. In addition, such films are non-toxic, tasteless, colorless, odorless, and semipermeable to lipid and flavor components, carbon dioxide, moisture, and oxygen [54].…”

“…This film is manufactured as a thin layer made from edible ingredients, covering Polymers 2023, 15, 2046 2 of 14 food and serving as a barrier between food and its surroundings. Starch based-edible films have been studied [16][17][18][19], and their application as the film on cakes [20], meats [21,22], vegetables [23], and fruits [24] demonstrates an encouraging result. These findings show the prospective application of starch as edible film material.…”

A review of biodegradable thermoplastic starches, their blends and composites: recent developments and opportunities for single-use plastic packaging alternatives

“…31 Furthermore, starch consists mainly of two types of bio macromolecular components, amylose and amylopectin, whereas cellulose is a linear polysaccharide that depends on the type and treatment of the raw materials, such as wood. 32 Cellulosic polymeric materials are mostly available as bacterial cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, cellulose nanocrystals or nano whiskers. 33,34 They have good film-forming characteristics, as they are non-toxic and transparent film materials with exceptional mechanical, thermal and barrier properties, specifically for oxygen and oil barriers.…”

3D-Printed Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites by Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM): Fiber Length and Fiber Implementation Techniques

“…Examples of popular bio-based polymers are PLA, biodegradable polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), polybutylene succinate (PBS), etc. [ 153 , 154 ]. Previously, most research focused on synthetic fiber reinforced PLA, and currently, some works on natural fiber reinforced PLA are reported [ 103 , 152 ].…”