EFFECT OF GLYCEROL AND SHEA BUTTER ON THE PROPERTIES OF FILMS PRODUCED FROM CHITOSAN AND Borassus aethiopum STARCH COMPOSITES

Abstract

The concern in environmental waste management and toxicity of petroleum derived plastics has led to the search for renewable, nontoxic and biodegradable materials for packaging. Starch is the most studied and promising biopolymer for the production of biodegradable films, but this starch films have poor properties which can be improved by blending with other materials and plasticizers. Borassus aethiopum shoot starch locally known as “Muruci” is a promising film forming biopolymer with high amylose content. Completely randomized design was used in this research with four factors; Borassus aethiopum shoot starch (BS), chitosan (CHI), glycerol (GLY) and shea butter (SB).This study presents the evaluation of the effect of plasticizer types (GLY) and (SB) singularly and in combination with varying concentration over the range of 0 to 50 % w/w on Borassus aethiopum shoots starch/Chitosan films (BSCF). Solution casting technique was employed for the film preparation at 800C. Starch from African Palmyra Palm (Borassus aethiopum) shoot has 20 % dry weight with amylose content of about 75.4 %. After series of different ratio combinations, the best films were formed from 2 %w/v of chitosan and starch composites in the presence of 30 %w/w GLY and 1 %w/w SB which were smooth and less transparent. Thickness, solubility in water, tensile strength (TS) and elongation at break (EAB) of BSCF were analyzed. Significant (p<0.05) increase in the films TS and thickness was observed with the increase in solute concentration of starch and CHI, while the Solubility in water and EAB decreases. Plasticizers incorporation significantly (p<0.05) increases the films thickness but lowered the film’s TS. Presence of GLY increased the films solubility and EAB significantly (p<0.05), but the introduction of SB significantly reduced the films thickness and solubility in water, singularly and in combination with GLY. Biodegradability test shows that the films with high chitosan concentration in the presence of SB had the longest degradation time (33 days). The transparency of BSCF is generally low and increase in the film opacity was observed with increase in solute concentrations of the starch. This study demonstrated that the BSCF in the presence of glycerol and low concentration of shear butter as plasticizers is a biodegradable film with the strength and barrier property needed for several applications such as in packaging.