Biodegradable film from wild taro Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott starch
Abstract
The challenge today is to develop a biodegradable packaging material to partially substitute the conventional plastic. Biodegradable plastics made from starch-based are more environmental friendly and degrade faster than the traditional plastics. This study aimed to produce and characterize a biodegradable film from Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott starch and glycerol plasticizer. Two levels of taro starch (5g and 10g) and three percentage of glycerol (2%, 3%, and 4%) were used in the production film.
Results showed that taro and glycerol based biodegradable film obtained a lowest density, water absorption and thickness swelling of 0.98 g/cm3, 51.53% and 9.29%. The highest tensile strength and elongation obtained are 9.51 MPa and 21.60%. After one week of biodegradability test, the taro starch and glycerol based biodegradable film was degraded by 64.45%.
