INFLUENCE OF EXTRUSION PARAMETERS ON THERMAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STARCH BASED FILMS

OSWALDO OCHOA YEPES; LUCÍA FAMÁ; LUCAS GUZ; PAULA GONZÁLEZ SELIGRA; SILVIA GOYANES

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Simposio; Frontiers in Phiysical Sciences; 2016

International Center for Advanced Studies (ICAS) de la UNSAM, Oficina de Enlace de la Sociedad Max Planck en Latinoamérica y Fundación Alexander von Humboldt

The use of edible films in the food industry has been constantly increasing, and starch-based films play a key role in this application, as starch is cheaper and more readily available worldwide than other natural resources [1]. In its native form, starch is not processable as a thermoplastic since its melting temperature is higher than its degradation temperature, so it is necessary to add plasticizers, heat and/or mechanical work to induce the starch gelatinization process and produce a thermoplastic material. Thermal extrusion is one of themost widely used techniques to process starch-based polymers. During extrusion process starch granules are subjected to high pressure, heat and mechanical shearing forces in a relatively low moisture environment [2]. Cassava starch based films were developed by the extrusion process using a laboratory twinscrewextruder. Glycerol and water were used as plasticizers. Different temperature profiles were evaluated with temperatures between 80°C and 140°C and the influence of screw speed was studied for a range from 25 to 120 rpm. Effects of extrusion parameters were investigated through the determination of thermal and mechanical properties of the starch films.