Chitosan films modified with olive oil

MARIANA PEREDA; GUILLERMINA AMICA; NORMA E. MARCOVICH

Lyon

Simposio; 2nd International Symposium Frontiers in Polymer Science; 2011

The use of films or coatings made from biobased materials, as an alternative to polymeric non-biodegradable ones, has arisen considerable interest from researchers and manufacturers [1]. Among renewable biomass based films, those made from proteins and polysaccharides have generally good organoleptic and mechanical properties, also acting as good barriers to noncondensable gases (O2, CO2, N2) and aromas [2]. With the aim of improving water vapor barrier properties of carbohydrate films, hydrophobic substances such as lipids could be added. Chitosan is a carbohydrate available from waste products of the shellfish industry [3]. Its importance resides in its antimicrobial properties in conjunction with its cationicity and its film-forming properties [4]. Chitosan is known to be biodegradable, non- toxic, biocompatible and bioadhesive [5]. The objectives of this work are to develop chitosan/olive oil composite-films through emulsification and to evaluate the effect of the lipid content (from 0 to 15 %) on the moisture sorption, permeability and contact angle values, as well as optical properties of the films. Addition of olive oil resulted in a sharp increase in the film opacity, and these values increased as the concentration of the lipids increased. The presence of a disperse; non-miscible phase promotes opacity as a function of the differences in the refractive index of the phases. Contact angle values also increase with olive oil addition, which is due to the hydrophobic nature of the added lipid. On the other hand, contact angle measurements are similar in both film sides, which represent a good dispersion of the oil globules in the matrix.