Sodium caseinate films reinforced with chitosan

MARIANA PEREDA; MIRTA INÉS ARANGUREN; NORMA ESTHER MARCOVICH

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Simposio; 41° Simposio Internacional de Macromoléculas - MACRO 2006; 2006

Edible films made from sodium caseinate, using glycerol as plasticizer, were prepared by the casting method. Chitosan was added to the solution to improve their mechanical strength. Film mechanical properties, tensile and impact, were investigated. The films were conditioned at different relative humidities. When moisture content increases, Young`s modulus, tensile strength and elongation at break decrease. Chitosan films present higher tensile strength but lower Young`s modulus than caseinate films. However, chitosan/ caseinate composite films are more rigid than sodium caseinate films and exhibit higher tensile strength than chitosan films. Chitosan films have higher puncture strength than neat sodium caseinate films.