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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Bioproducts Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #379587
Research Project: Bioproducts and Biopolymers from Agricultural Feedstocks

Location: Bioproducts Research

Title: Effect of size and amount of sugarcane fibers on the properties of baked foams based on plantain flour

Author
item ROMAN-MORENO, JOSE - National Technological Institute Of Mexico
item RADILLA-SERRANO, GUADALUPE - National Technological Institute Of Mexico
item FLORES-CASTRO, ALEJANDRA - National Technological Institute Of Mexico
item Berrios, Jose
item Glenn, Gregory - Greg
item SALGADO-DELGADO, ARELI - Instituto Tecnológico De Zacatepec
item PALMA-RODRÍGUEZ, HEIDI M - Universidad Autonoma Del Estado De Hidalgo
item VARGAS-TORRES, APOLONIO - Universidad Autonoma Del Estado De Hidalgo

Submitted to: Heliyon
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/9/2020
Publication Date: 9/9/2020
Citation: Roman-Moreno, J.L., Radilla-Serrano, G.P., Flores-Castro, A., Berrios, J.D., Glenn, G.M., Salgado-Delgado, A., Palma-Rodríguez, H., Vargas-Torres, A. 2020. Effect of size and amount of sugarcane fibers on the properties of baked foams based on plantain flour. Heliyon. 6:9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04927.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04927

Interpretive Summary: The use of food packaging that is compostable and made of renewable agricultural materials is of growing interest as a replacement for plastic-based packaging. ARS scientists in Albany, California cooperated with scientists from Mexico to develop foam packaging made of plantain flour and sugarcane fiber using a baking technology. The formulations were optimized to improve thermal insulation and moisture resistance using these regional agricultural feedstocks. The results of the study and could eventually be used to make food packaging products.

Technical Abstract: Baked foams made with plantain flour (PF) and sugarcane fiber (SF) were characterized by calorimetric, mechanical, physicochemical and structural techniques in order to assess the results induced by different sugarcane concentrations and fiber size on the structure of baked foams. The addition of SF to the baked samples increased their hydrophobic properties. Thermal conductivity (TC) decreased when the concentration of SF was 10 g and 7.5 g in the baked foams. The density of the biodegradable baked foams (BBFs) decreased with decreasing concentrations of SF, observing an inverse behavior in water vapor permeability (WVP) and solubility properties. The mechanical properties of the baked foams were more influenced by the concentration of SF than by the size of SF, obtained from different sieves. The scanning electron microscopy cross-sectional images of the BBFs showed that the size of SF affected the size and number of the internal cells in the BBFs.