Obtención de plásticos biodegradables de chirivía (Pastinaca sativa) y de oca (Oxalis tuberosa) para el uso en la industria alimentaria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a biodegradable plastic from parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) and oca (Oxalis tuberosa) starch to be used in the food industry packaging. It began with the extraction of starch by means of wet method, to this purpose, speed and time variables were taken into account, in order to choose the best performance. The physicochemical characterization of the starch and the subsequent formulation of the bioplastic based on the 2k factorial design were carried out. Several preliminary tests were developed in order to determine the quantity of the components for the elaboration of the biodegradable plastic, as a result, it was obtained that the optimal mixture is 1.12 g of parsnip starch, 4.48 g of oca starch, 60 ml of water, 2.40 ml of glycerin and 5 ml of acetic acid. Subsequently, the bioplastic sheets were evaluated in terms of physicochemical and mechanical tests, in order to estimate the formulation that has the best properties, this was the TM3 formulation with these physicochemical results: 0.12 mm thick, 16.06% moisture, 36.09% solubility and 0.07% permeability to water vapor. Regarding the mechanical test, results obtained were: 6.71 MPa for the modulus of elasticity and 2.03 MPa for maximum stress. In addition, the biodegradation of the bioplastic was carried out and it was shown that the most efficient medium was water, since it was completely degraded after 54 days. Finally, through a pilot test, the applicability of the obtained bioplastic was verified. It is concluded that the bioplastic has the possibility of being used as a food wrapper, since it fulfilled the same functionality as the synthetic wrappers. It is recommended to carry out studies on the fiber that was obtained as waste, to use it in different areas.