Effect of cassava peel and cassava bagasse natural fillers on mechanical properties of thermoplastic cassava starch: Comparative study

Abstract

Increased awareness of environmental and sustainability issues has generated increased interest in the use of natural fiber reinforced composites. This work focused on the use of cassava roots peel and bagasse as natural fillers of thermoplastic cassava starch (TPS) materials based on cassava starch. The effect of cassava bagasse (CB) and cassava peel (CP) content on the tensile properties of cassava starch (CS) biocomposites films was studied. The biocomposites films were prepared by casting technique using cassava starch (CS) as matrix and fructose as plasticizer. The CB and CP were added to improve the properties of the films. The addition of both fibers increased the tensile strength and modulus while decreased the elongation at break of the biocomposites films. Films containing CB showed higher tensile strength and modulus as compared to the films containing the same amount of CP. The addition of 6 % bagasse increased the modulus and maximum tensile stress to 581.68 and 10.78 MPa, respectively. Thus, CB is considered to be the most efficient reinforcing agent due to its high compatibility with the cassava starch. The use of CB and CP as reinforcement agents for CS thermoplastic cassava added value to these waste by-products and increase the suitability of CS composite films as environmentally friendly food packaging material.