Studies on biocomposite reinforced with orange peel derived microfibrillated cellulose for active food packaging applications

Abstract

The food packaging materials is produced from fossil fuels, and are a serious threat to environment. An effort to extend the shelf life and enhance the quality of food while reducing plastic waste production has encouraged for the exploration of new bio-based packaging such as biodegradable and edible films. But the usage of biodegradable materials for packaging is limited due to poor barrier properties and weak mechanical properties. Pectin as a biopolymer is extracted from citrus peels which is an agro-byproduct that can be used for packaging in the form of biocomposites, reinforced with fillers to obtain better strength and durability. It forms transparent films easily by the casting method and is compatible with other biopolymers as well. microfibrillated cellulose (or cellulose microfiber), having lt100 and#956;m diameter, can be used as reinforcements in composites due to its high aspect ratio. But isolation of these nanofibers requires high energy to fibrillate from the plant cell wall using methods like high pressure homogenization, cryocrushing, steam explosion, ball milling etc,. A combination of chemical treatments like alkali or acid hydrolysis followed by ultrasonication can be used for isolation of microfibrillated cellulose which have lt 100 nm diameter and lengths in the order of micrometers. In the present work, different Hydrocolloids and their blends have been reinforced with microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), which was isolated from citrus peels, and the mechanical properties have been studied using Universal Testing Machine. The diameter of the isolated MFC was confirmed by FE-SEM and the incorporation of these MFC into hydrocolloids has been studied. newlineHydrocolloids can be infused with plant extracts to acquire better antibacterial activity against food borne pathogens in the primary packaging. The blending of two hydrocolloids has been anticipated to bring about good thermo-mechanical properties which is the work that was carried out in the present study. newline