The development of Aloe vera-based edible film with the addition of sago starch and glycerol for food packaging

Abstract

The edible film is a thin sheet material made of carbohydrates, protein or fat compounds. Research on the development of edible film is promising due to the increased plastic waste, which could disturb the environmental balance. The biodegradable nature of edible film provides an environmental-friendly material for packaging. Nevertheless, creating an edible film with similar properties to plastic will require extensive research. This research aims to develop Aloe vera-based edible film with the addition of sago starch as a texture enhancer and glycerol as a plasticizer and investigate the effect of different concentrations of sago starch on the physicochemical properties of edible film. In this research, six different concentration of sago starch was applied, which are 2.5%; 3%; 3.5%; 4%; 4.5%; and 5% (w/w). Each treatment was repeated four times. The result shows that the increase of sago starch concentration could increase the tensile strength and percent of elongation of edible film. On the contrary, the moisture content, water activity, and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) were decreased. The range of tensile strength, percent of elongation, moisture content, water activity, and WVTR were 0.0254-0.4827 N/cm2, 46.67%-61,79%, 13.39%-16.65%, 0.559-0.636, and 5.6460-10.0810 g/m2/hour, respectively.