Property study of natural polysaccharide biodegradable films

Issues associated with waste disposal all over the world, including in Russia, determine the urgency in applying biopolymers as environmentally-friendly packaging materials. Nowadays, the development of technologies and formulations of biodegradable films based on domestic ingredients for application in the packaging of food and/or pharmaceutical products is of a great relevance. Biodegradable polymers based on natural polysaccharides possess certain advantages over plastics, especially in terms of their complete and rapid degradability under natural and/or specially-created conditions. When developing the technology for producing packaging materials, including food production, special attention is paid to the characteristics of the resulting packaging, which is responsible for preserving the initial qualities of both the packaging and the product for a certain time, at least until delivered to the consumer. Therefore, low oxygen and water vapour permeability manifests itself as a special property of biodegradable films, having particular importance for food packaging applications. Formulations of biodegradable film samples obtained from compositions of natural polysaccharides (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, carrageenan and agar-agar) are proposed and studies on their main properties (degree of biodegradation, gas permeability, water absorption, chemical resistance, degradation and toxicological properties) carried out. Based on the results of the study, compositions appropriate for application as the basis for environmentally friendly packaging materials for food and pharmaceutical products were selected. The maximum stability of the studied films (i.e., the period of their complete dissolution) in concentrated hydrochloric, sulphuric and acetic acids was determined. The considered samples of biodegradable films were proved to cause no toxic effects on natural ecosystems.

The authors declare no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this article.

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