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Special Issue "Bioplastics: Starch and Cellulose"

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Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
Interests: biocomposites; bioplastic; cellulose nanmomaterials; starch-based materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Starch and cellulose are going to play a major role in the development of bioplastics. In their pristine form, these biopolymers result in bioplastics with inferior properties. Therefore, innovative ways to modify these biopolymers without losing their biodegradability and overall sustainability is a topic of growing significance. This Special Issue is devoted to research covering all aspects of utilizing cellulose and starch for bioplastics, packaging, and other material applications.

Dr. Bishnu Acharya
Guest Editor

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Keywords

characterization of starch and cellulose
synthesis and structural modification
biocomposites
bio packaging
bioplastics
porous materials
biodegradability study
technoeconomic and life cycle study

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Potentially Health-Promoting Spaghetti-Type Pastas Based on Doubly Modified Corn Starch: Starch Oxidation via Wet Chemistry Followed by Organocatalytic Butyrylation Using Reactive Extrusion

Oswaldo Hernandez-Hernandez

Lesbia Cristina Julio-Gonzalez

Elisa G. Doyagüez

and

Tomy J. Gutiérrez

Polymers 2023, 15(7), 1704; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15071704 - 29 Mar 2023

Viewed by 548

Abstract

Extruded spaghetti-type pasta systems were obtained separately either from native or oxidized starch prepared via wet chemistry with the aim of evaluating the effect of oxidation modification of starch. In addition to this, the butyrylation reaction (butyrate (Bu) esterification—short-chain fatty acid) using native or oxidized starch was analyzed under reactive extrusion (REx) conditions with and without the addition of a green food-grade organocatalyst (l(+)-tartaric acid) with the purpose of developing potentially health-promoting spaghetti-type pasta systems in terms of increasing its resistant starch (RS) values. These would be due to obtaining organocatalytic butyrylated starch or not, or the manufacture of a doubly modified starch (oxidized-butyrylated—starch oxidation followed by organocatalytic butyrylation) or not. To this end, six pasta systems were developed and characterized by solid-state ¹³C cross-polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP MAS NMR) spectroscopy, degree of substitution (DS), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR/FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), pancreatic digestion, free Bu content analysis and in vitro starch digestibility. The results obtained here suggest that starch oxidation hydrolytically degrades starch chains, making them more susceptible to enzymatic degradation by α-amylase. However, the oxidized starch-based pasta systems, once esterified by Bu mainly on the amylose molecules (doubly modified pasta systems) increased their RS values, and this was more pronounced with the addition of the organocatalyst (maximum RS value = ~8%). Interestingly, despite the checked chemical changes that took place on the molecular structure of starch upon butyrylation or oxidation reactions in corn starch-based spaghetti-type pasta systems, and their incidence on starch digestibility, the orthorhombic crystalline structure (A-type starch) of starch remained unchanged. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioplastics: Starch and Cellulose)

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Open AccessArticle

Effect of TiO₂ Nanoparticles and Extrusion Process on the Physicochemical Properties of Biodegradable and Active Cassava Starch Nanocomposites

and

Polymers 2023, 15(3), 535; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15030535 - 20 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1120

Abstract

Biodegradable polymers have been strongly recognized as an alternative to replace traditional petrochemical plastics, which have become a global problem due to their long persistence in the environment. In this work, the effect of the addition of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂NP) on the morphology, physicochemical properties and biodegradation under industrial composting conditions of cassava starch-based nanocomposites obtained by extrusion at different screw speeds (80 and 120 rpm) were investigated. Films performed at 120 rpm (S₁₂₀ and S₁₂₀-TiO₂NP) showed completely processed starch and homogeneously distributed nanoparticles, leading to much more flexible nanocomposites than those obtained at 80 rpm. The incorporation of TiO₂NP led to an increase in storage modulus of all films and, in the case of S₁₂₀-TiO₂NP, to higher strain at break values. From the Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts theoretical model (KWW), an increase in the relaxation time of the nanocomposites was observed due to a decrease in the number of polymer chains involved in the relaxation process. Additionally, S₁₂₀-TiO₂NP showed effective protection against UV light, greater hydrophobicity and faster biodegradation in compost, resulting in a promising material for food packaging applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioplastics: Starch and Cellulose)

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Special Issue "Bioplastics: Starch and Cellulose"

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