The Role of Biopolymers in Obtaining Environmentally Friendly Materials

Polymeric materials have had a boom in the global industry over the past two decades, because of its adaptability, durability, and price so much so that now we cannot imagine a product that does not contain it. However, many synthetic polymers that have been developed are mainly derived from petroleum and coal as raw material, which make them incompatible with the environment, since they cannot be included in what is a natural recycling system. Aware of the environmental impacts that produce synthetic polymers, a solution could be the mixtures with different types and sources of biological materials, called biopolymers, such as starch, cellulose, chitosan, zein, gelatin among others and that gradually replace synthetic polymers to address and resolve these problems. The development of new applications, such as composite materials by incorporation of alternative materials, found in nature that has similar properties to oil‐based polymers, but its main feature is its biodegradability and offering competitive to current material costs. In this sense, various investigations are aimed at decreasing the amounts of plastic waste and to manufacture products with less aggressive environment since the synthetic plastics are difficult to recycle and can remain in nature for over a century

Applications of Modified Starches

Starch is the main source of energy to humans, but starch today has other roles in food, packing and pharmaceutical industries like filler, emulsion stabilizer, coating, etc. The native form of starch has application limitations on broad range of temperature, pH and stability, among others, required on several industrial applications. The alternative way is modified starch to improve its properties and uses on several industrial fields. The book explores the use of physical and, chemical modifications and even the unusual modification using ionizing radiation on several sources of starch, the effect of them on the properties and application fields of modified starch

Properties of Edible Films Based on Oxidized Starch and Zein

The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of zein and film formulation on mechanical and structural properties of native (FNS), and oxidized with 2.5% (FOSA) and 3.5% (FOSB) banana starch. The oxidized starch showed differences from native starch due to the oxidation process, showing a decrease in lipids, proteins, and amylose. The increase of the sodium hypochlorite increased the content of carbonyl and carboxyl groups in the ranges 0.015–0.028% and 0.022–0.031%, respectively. The film obtained from FOSB displayed the highest tensile strength (5.05 MPa) and satisfactory elongation value (27.1%). The zein addition caused a decrease in these mechanical properties, as well as a significant decrease in water vapour permeability (WVP). However, films from FOSA and FOSB showed higher permeability than that of the native starch. The addition of glycerol and the level of oxidation increased the films moisture. Micrographs showed that, during the oxidation process, impurities were largely eliminated from the starch granule, noting more homogeneous structures both in granules and films