Active packaging material based on buriti oil - Mauritia flexuosa L.f. (Arecaceae) incorporated into chitosan films

Abstract

Active and biodegradable materials have great potential in food packaging applications, improving the safety and quality of products. The objective of this study was to develop a new material based on buriti oil incorporated into a chitosan film. Different concentrations of buriti oil in dried films (2.1 g/m(2), 10.4 g/m(2), 20.8 g/m(2), and 31.3 g/m(2)) were added into a chitosan matrix (41.7 g/m(2)). The chitosan/buriti oil films were characterized by water-vapor barrier properties, total water-soluble matter (TSM), tensile properties, thermogravimetric analysis, microstructure, microbial permeation properties, and biodegradation estimation. The higher oil concentration improved the water-vapor barrier and the buriti oil acted largely as a plasticizer and increased the elongation at break, and decreased the tensile strength (TS) of chitosan films. The total water-soluble matter of chitosan films decreased in function of the buriti oil concentration, but the biodegradation and thermal stability increased. The chitosan films presented a microbial barrier against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. (C) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43210.