Rheological behaviour and physical properties of controlled-release gluten-based bioplastics

Bioplastics based on glycerol, water and wheat gluten have been manufactured in order to determine the effect that mechanical processing and further thermal treatments exert on different thermo-mechanical properties of the biomaterials obtained. An "active agent", KCl was incorporated in these matrices to develop controlled-release formulations. Oscillatory shear, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), diffusion and water absorption tests were carried out in order to study the influence of the above-mentioned treatments on the physico-chemical characteristics and rheological behaviour of these bioplastic samples. Wheat gluten protein-based bioplastics studied in this work present a high ability for thermosetting modification, due to protein denaturation, which may favour the development of a wide variety of biomaterials. Bioplastic hygroscopic properties depend on plasticizer nature and processing procedure, and may be a key factor for industrial applications where water absorption is required. On the other hand, high water absorption and slow KCl release from bioplastic samples (both of them suitable properties in agricultural applications) may be obtained by adding citric acid to a given formulation, at selected processing conditions.