Innovations in Starch-Based Film Technology. Chapter 32

GARCIA, M.A., ROJAS A.M., LAURINDO, J.B., ROMERO-BASTIDA C.A., GROSSMANN, M.V.E., MARTINO, M. , FLORES S.B, ZAMUDIO-FLORES, P.B., MALI, S., ZARITZKY N., SOBRAL, P.J.A., FAMÁ L.B, BELLO-PÉREZ, L.A., GERSCHENSON, L., YAMASHITA, F., BELEIA, A.P

Food Engineering: Integrated Approaches.

Springer

Lugar: New York, USA; Año: 2008; p. 431 - 454

Edible and biodegradable films can offer great potential to enhance food quality, safety and stability. The unique advantages of edible films and coatings may lead to new product developments, such as individual packaging of particulate foods, carriers for different additives, and nutrient supplements (Vermeirenet al, 1999). Composite films can be formulated to combine the advantages of each component. Proteins and polysaccharides provide the supporting matrix and are good barriers to gases, while lipids provide a good barrier to water vapor (Krochta and De Mulder Johnston, 1997). Over the last few years, there has been a renewed interest in biodegradable films and films made from renewable and natural polymers such as starch (Lawton, 1996, Vicentini et al., 2005). Several studies have been done to analyze the properties of starch-based films (Lawton and Fanta, 1994; Lourdin, et al., 1995; Arvanitoyannis, et al., 1998; Garcia, et al. 1998- 2001, Mali et al, 2002, Vicentini et al. 2005). The use of a biopolymer such as starch can be an interesting solution because this polymer is quite cheap, abundant, biodegradable and edible. The amylose is responsible for the film forming capacity of the starches. Starches are polymers that naturally occur in a variety of botanical sources such as wheat, corn, potatoes and tapioca or cassava. It is a renewable resource widely available and can be obtained from different left over of harvesting and raw material industrialization. Grown in tropical areas (Latin America, Asia and Southern Africa) of the world, tapioca (cassava) is used in Latin America as a meal, as animal fodder or cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) highlighted recently that tapioca is a good commercial cash crop and a major source of food security, and that it needs a competitive edge to thrive in the global starch market. Due to shortage or high price of traditional starch sources, such as wheat and soybeans, the tapioca starch is viewed as an alternative source by the food companies for use as an ingredient (FAO, 2004). Yam tubers (Dioscorea alata) are another potential starch source that could be used as food ingredient, but that has not been explored commercially (Mali et al., 2002). Yam starch, although not commercially available, have some interesting functional properties, as a function of its relatively high amylose content (approximately 30%) and amylopectin chain structure (Mali et al, 2004). This high amylose content motivated the initial studies about yam starch films (Mali et al, 2002; Mali et al, 2004).