Not Available

Not AvailableThe reckless use of plastic is becoming a major threat to the environment. Therefore, reduction of plastic pollution is becoming a primary priority of every nation around the globe. Scientific community across the world has been searching for an alternative to plastic for many years. Food industry globally contributes a major share of the total plastic waste produced. Use of biodegradable and edible films is an alternate for many of the existing use of plastic packages in food and allied industry. Although it is not sufficient to completely curb the problem, may be able to play an important role in plastic pollution. More focus on edible and biodegradable packaging research is the need of the hour to make them a complete alternative for plastic packagingNot Availabl

Studies on some Engineering Properties of Sapota (Achras zapota)

Physical properties, namely size, shape, weight, density and frictional properties, namely peak static, peak dynamic and average dynamic coefficients of friction (COF) on four common construction surfaces, and mechanical properties, like puncture and compression with respect to storage period for sapota (Achras zapota) fruit were measured using standard procedures. The average geometrical mean diameter of sapota was 54.0 mm. Bulk and true densities of sapota were 584.9 kg/m\u27 and 1040.8 kg/m\u27. Peak static, peak dynamic and average dynamic COF of sapota varied from 0.24 (for rubber sheet) to 0.30 (for aluminium), from 0.34 (for stainless steel) to 0.39 (for rubber sheet), and from 0.26 (for rubber sheet) to 0.33 (for aluminium), respectively. The fruit firmness was measured as 325.6 on fourth and 240.7 N on sixth day of harvest

Not Available

Not AvailableIn the current study, soybean aqueous extract (SAE)-based nanocomposite film was developed by incorporating cellulose nanofiber (CNF) at various concentrations (0–10%). Effect of nanoreinforcement on essential properties of the nanocomposite film such as barrier, mechanical, water affinity, and optical properties were evaluated. Homogeneous films with improved barrier and mechanical properties were observed until 6% CNF, beyond which considerable reduction in desirable properties was noticed due to nanoparticle's agglomeration effect. Furthermore, the prediction of the mechanical and barrier properties of nanocomposite film was performed with mathematical models such as modified Halpin–Tsai and modified Nielsen equations, respectively. The model-fitting results reveal that the theoretically predicted values were in close agreement with the experimental values. Hence, these models were well suited for predicting respective properties. Model prediction also implies that the increase in the aspect ratio of fillers can considerably cause a reduction in water vapor permeability and improvement in mechanical properties. Suitability of developed film as cheese slice separator was evaluated: they had equivalent outcomes in terms of easiness in slice separation and wholeness of slices after separation compared to the commercial material.Not Availabl