CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The properties of plasticized chitosanolive oil emulsion films prepared with increasing oil concentrationswere investigated. Emulsifying nature of chitosan was enough to stabilize olive oil droplets in thefilm forming emulsions; hence homogeneous, thin and translucent films were obtained in all cases. Thehomogeneity of the lipid globules distribution in the films was confirmed by contact angle measurementsand optical microscopy. All the tensile properties (Young Modulus, strength and maximum elongation)increased with olive oil concentration and were explained considering the interactions developedbetween lipid and carbohydrate phases in addition to the lubricant characteristics of the oil. Moisturesorption, water vapor permeation through the films and effective diffusion coefficients decreased as oilconcentration increases, as a result of the non-polar nature of the lipid. Total soluble matter measurementswere used to confirm the development of strong associations between chitosan and olive oil.