Abstract
Gelatin is a promising candidate for making bioplastic film; however, the water soluble property has limited its applications. Here, we have successfully fabricated a water-insoluble gelatin film with the assistance of biocatalysis. This innovative gelatin film could retain its original shape at ambient temperature (30 °C) or even in boiling water. Type E gelatin could form more covalent crosslinks when compared to that of conventional ones with the same amount of microbial transglutaminase (MTGase), and it exhibits obvious changes in terms of molecular weight, network structure, and mechanical strength. This work could provide a strategy for fabricating water-insoluble gelatin film and open routes for the development of bioplastic film using gelatin.
Highlights
More than eight-million tons of plastic packaging are used every year, according to TheEllen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment Spring 2019 Report [1].The environmental impact of all this plastic calls for researches related to stopping plastic waste and pollution as well as exploring bioplastic alternatives
According to the previous research [14,23], long time liming process hydrolyzes the amide groups of glutamine residues in type B gelatin, large amount of glutamine converts into glutamic acid
The high amount of glutamine in type A gelatin might be attribute to the raw materials as well as the manufacturing process [24]
Summary
The environmental impact of all this plastic calls for researches related to stopping plastic waste and pollution as well as exploring bioplastic alternatives. Gelatin is a biodegradable polymer that offers opportunity in developing alternatives to petroleum-based plastics for particular applications [2,3]. Being obtained from partial hydrolysis of collagen, gelatin is non-toxic and it has good film forming properties, which make it a potential candidate for packaging [4]. The resulting three-dimensional (3D) network stabilized by hydrogen bonds could help gelatin film to insulate oxygen and light. This network is thermally reversible and sensitive to water, which are drawbacks for packaging [5,6,7]
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