Abstract
Apple starch films were obtained from apples harvested at 60, 70, 80 and 90 days after full bloom (DAFB). Mechanical properties and water vapor permeability (WVP) were evaluated. The apple starch films at 70 DAFB presented higher values in the variables of tensile strength (8.12 MPa), elastic modulus (3.10 MPa) and lower values of water vapor permeability (6.77 × 10−11 g m−1 s−1 Pa−1) than apple starch films from apples harvested at 60, 80 and 90 DAFB. Therefore, these films were chosen to continue the study incorporating ellagic acid (EA). The EA was added at three concentrations [0.02% (FILM-EA0.02%), 0.05% (FILM-EA0.05%) and 0.1% (FILM-EA0.1%) w/w] and compared with the apple starch films without EA (FILM-Control). The films were characterized by their physicochemical, optical, morphological and mechanical properties. Their thermal stability and antioxidant capacity were also evaluated. The FILM-Control and FILM-EA0.02% showed a uniform surface, while FILM-EA0.05% and FILM-EA0.1% showed a rough surface and insoluble EA particles. Compared to FILM-Control, EA modified the values of tensile strength, elasticity modulus and elongation at break. The antioxidant capacity increased as EA concentration did. EA incorporation allowed obtaining films with higher antioxidant capacity, capable of blocking UV light with better mechanical properties than film without EA.
Highlights
Plastics are synthetic polymers derived from fossil fuels, which because of its production cost and versatility are one of the most popular food packaging materials [1,2]
Physical Properties of Apple Starch Films Harvested at days after full bloom (DAFB)
This behavior could be explained based on the results reported by Kim et al [30], who observed that increasing the concentration of ellagic acid (EA) in chitosan films decreased the contact angle on its surface, promoting a more hydrophilic character
Summary
Plastics are synthetic polymers derived from fossil fuels, which because of its production cost and versatility are one of the most popular food packaging materials [1,2]. Coatings 2018, 8, 384 nature of these materials has generated serious pollution problems [3]. For these reasons, the interest on developing edible films and coating that can totally or partially replace the use of synthetic polymers derived from petroleum, has grown [4,5]. Starch films offer several advantages for use as food packaging, being colorless, odorless, tasteless, transparent, biodegradable, non-toxic and with low oxygen permeability [9]. It has been reported that the different properties of starch-based films vary with the botanical source [10,11,12,13,14,15]
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