University of Papaloapan (UNPA) Tuxtepec campus, in coordination with the "Sustainable use of natural resources and generation of high value-added products" academic network, developed biodegradable films with antimicrobial properties and antioxidants that can be used to preserve foods from the plantain (Musa balbisiana) residues.
The purpose of the research is to generate polymers from the starch present in the plantain and, from these polymers, create films with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that favor food conservation.
"We developed polymers from the plantain's starch. The research focused on using the fruit's residues, i.e. the fruit that is not consumed or did not reach the necessary maturity at harvest time. The residues that don't meet standards are used to generate these biodegradable films. This translates into added value for the product," said Dr. Erick Juarez Arellano, research professor at the UNPA.
The film's main application is packaging and food preservation. Usually, the industry uses hard plastics or polymers that don't degrade easily for this purpose, which negatively impacts the environment. The films created from the plantain's residues must comply with three characteristics: a suitable mechanical property that allows them to adjust to weight and elasticity, a biodegradable property, and an antioxidant property that supports the preservation of the product's nutritional properties.
"The problem with polymers is that they don't degrade, it may take them thousands of years to disappear, resulting in environmental pollution. The idea with these films is that certain organisms degraded them so that they can be used as fertilizers. In the tests we have done the film produced from plantains degraded in three months, while a synthetic polymer can take a hundred thousand years to degrade," said one of the researchers.
Dr. Erick Juarez, member of the National Research System (SNI) and an expert in science and engineering of materials, said they generated films through a chemical process that breaks the starch apart releasing its chains which can then be restructured to produce a polymer. A semi-industrial method can be used to make the films and then continue with characterization of the biological activity.
The development of this research has been possible thanks to the collaboration between two academic groups from the UNPA and the Center for Research in Applied Chemistry (CIQA) that make up the Sustainable use of natural resources and generation of high value-added products" academic network funded by the Program for the Professors' Professional Development (Prodep), that continue to work in developing biodegradable films with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.
Finally, Erick Juarez said they would continue to explore the properties of different banana varieties, as each variety's starch had different characteristics. In addition to bananas, he said, they were also investigating other starchy tubers, such as potatoes, taro, and cassava, with which they could possibly produce films for food preservation.
Source: conacytprensa.mx