Bioplastic Made from Manihot Esculenta (cassava) and Ficus Benjamina as an Ecological Alternative for Food Products

Carlos A. Olivares Quispetera, Carlos A. Castaneda Olivera, Jhonny W. Valverde Flores, Elmer G. Benites Alfaro, Ysabel Valverde Flores
2021 Chemical Engineering Transactions  
The present research aimed to obtain a bioplastic made of Manihot esculenta (cassava) and Ficus benjamina. For this purpose, the residual lignocellulose of Ficus benjamina was mechanically conditioned until obtaining a particle size lower than 180 µm. There were elaborated samples of cassava starch bioplastic as blank test (BPY) and samples of cassava starch bioplastic with lignocellulose proportions of 12.59% (BPL5), 17.65% (BPL6) and 22.22% (BPL7). The average results of tensile strength
more » ... ation of the BPY, BPL5, BPL6 and BPL7 samples were 9.9, 14.6, 14.8 and 15.7 Kpa, respectively. The BPY sample provided a higher elongation percentage with an average value of 13.59%. As for the biodegradation by gravimetric method for 5, 10 and 20 days, better results were evidenced for the BPL7 sample, with percentages of weight loss of 17.45, 27.08 and 48.69%, respectively. Finally, it is concluded that the bioplastic based on cassava and Ficus benjamina could be established as a favorable ecological alternative to be used in food products due to its good properties of resistance and favorable biodegradation.
doi:10.3303/cet2187012 doaj:99736a1f518e41a99ab6e0997747e91a fatcat:mro4uh54bndxtdl7dwtn272kdi