Corn starch biofilm reinforced with orange peel powder: Characterization of physicochemical and mechanical properties

Abstract

The bio-plastics has been attracted by many countries for the benefit of environment. Starch is a very common polymer that is used as bio-degradable plastic because of its abundance availability and less cost. The aim of this work is to incorporate dry orange peel powder (OPP) with corn starch powder (CSP) in order to enhance properties of biofilms (BFS) prepared interms of mechanical and solubility. Main source of starch used in the current study is corn starch (CS). Five films were prepared by varying the weight % of OPP like 20% (CSOPP20), 30% (CSOPP30), 40% (CSOPP40) and 50% (CSOPP50) and 0% CS (CSO). The physiochemical properties like moisture content, solubility in water and alcohol, absorption of water, biodegradability and mechanical properties like tensile strength and % elongation at break of the prepared film were characterized. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results confirm the interaction between OPP and CS. FTIR peaks at 3200–4000 cm−1, 2925 cm−1, 1210–1320 cm−1, 900–1033 cm−1 and 1075–1155 cm−1 proves the presence of starch, cellulose, OPP, glycerol, vinegar and water, respectively, used for the film preparation. Of all the films, CSOPP40 resulted with highest tensile strength and lowest % elongation at break which corresponded to 1.41 MPa and 11.12% respectively. It was confirmed that the biodegradability was accelerated with the incorporation of OPP in the starch film. The water absorption value, solubility in alcohol, and water was found to be the highest for CSOPP50 film which were 145%, 33.5% and 37%, respectively.