Synthesis and Characterization of Bioplastic Film from Banana Peel Starch Blending with Banana Pseudo-Stem Fiber

Abstract

Biomass has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing fossil fuel.The exponential growth of the human population has led to the accumulation of non-degradable waste materials across our planet. Bioplastics synthesized from only starch has less mechanical strength and thermal stability , and can be improved by the addition of fillers. In this study, banana peel starch and banana pseudostem fiber were used for the synthesis of bioplastic film. Proximate analysis of banana peel was moisture (10.5%), total ash (8.5%), crude lipids (6.66%), crude protein (2.17%), crude fiber (34.37%), and carbohydrates (37.8%).The optimum process variables for starch yield were 27.66 minutes, 37.92oC temperature which gives 12.06% maximum yield. The extracted starch was characterized as pH (6.31), moisture (7.2%), loss on drying (11.2%), amylose (19.3%), amylopectin (80.7%) and ash content (0.8%). The thermal resistance of fiber was characterized by TGA. For fiber density (1.43g/cm3 ), yield (8%), moisture content (61.3%), water absorptions (4.6%), and cellulose (55%-60%) has been investigated. Film was synthesized by conducting 20 experiments and analyzed by design expert 11, by considering three factors of dry oven temperature(35-65oC), glycerol concentration (20-50%)w/v and fiber concentration (5-20%) w/w of starch(5g) basis. Three responses were tensile strength (TS), water absorption (WA), and elongation at the break (EA) of the synthesized bioplastic film. The result obtained in ranges were (0.2-7.25Mpa) TS, (4.9-31.01%) EA and (18.6-35.3%) WA. The obtained results at the optimal point were 7.23Mpa TS, 5.46% EA and 18.60% WA at a combination of 56.5oC dry oven temperature, 28.6%glycerol, and 18.26% fiber concentrations. Moisture, solubility, transparency, and thickness of the film were determined. The film also characterized by TGA, DSC and FTIR. This study indicates that higher strength, low water absorbent, and good thermally stable bioplastic film can be produced from banana peel starch via banana pseudostem fiber.