Abstract

NAVIA-PORRAS, DIANA PAOLA; AYALA-APONTE, ALFREDO ADOLFO  and  VILLADA-CASTILLO, HÉCTOR SAMUEL. EFFECT OF CASSAVA FLOUR GELATINIZATION ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BIOPLASTICS. Rev.Bio.Agro [online]. 2015, vol.13, n.1, pp.38-44. ISSN 1692-3561.

The development of biodegradable packaging materials for food is an issue of global concern, and therefore knowledge of its properties and characteristics from which its application can be estimated. In this work, bioplastics were prepared with gelatinized and ungelatinized flour from two cassava varieties MPER 183 and CM 4574-7, sisal fiber, and glycerol, which were mixed and subjected to thermopressing for 5 min at 180°C and 1,5 bar pressure. The mechanical behavior of the bioplastics was evaluated through tension and flexion tests, and the variations in the microstructure were identified through images by the technique of scanning electron microscopy. It showed that the gelatinization favored the mechanical behavior of the bioplastics, with the variety of cassava MPER 183 which provided greater resistance to breaking strength in tension and flexion of 3,2 MPa and 8,8 MPa respectively, elastic modulus tensil and flexural of 748,7 MPa and 791,6 MPa respectively. The materials obtained in this study were favorable performance characteristics for use as food packaging.

Keywords : Flexion; Tension; Gelatinization.

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