Pectin films with recovered sunflower waxes produced by electrospraying

CHALAPUD MAYRA; BAUMLER, ERICA; CARELLI, AMALIA; SALGADO, MARÍA DE LA PAZ; MORALES, EDUARDO; RENTERÍA-ORTEGA, MINERVA; CALDERÓN, GEORGINA

Membranes

MDPI AG

Lugar: Basilea; Año: 2022 vol. 12 p. 560 - 577

2077-0375

The valorization of by-products obtained from food processing has achieved an important environmental impact. In this research, sunflower waxes recovered from oil refining process were incorporated to low and high-methoxyl pectin films produced by electrospraying. Film forming solutions and wax-added electrosprayed films were physical and structurally evaluated. Results showed that the addition of wax affects the film forming solutions, decreasing their conductivity, and increasing their surface tension and density, while the type of pectin shows its larger effect on viscosity, where the low methoxyl solution presented the highest value. These changes on physical solution properties affected the film characteristics, observing thicker films with lower WVTR when adding wax. Micrographs obtained by SEM revealed the presence of wax particles as small spherical shapes, having a good distribution through the sectional area of films. According to DRX, AFM and mechanical properties analyses, the presence of wax had an impact on the degree of crystallinity, producing a more amorphous and rougher film?s structure, but without affecting the elongation percentage and the tensile stress (p>0.05). These results showed that the addition of wax improves the physical properties of the films, while the suitability of using both pectins and the electrospraying technique was demonstrated.