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How Do Arabinoxylan Films Interact with Water and Soil?
Cassie Anderson1, Senay Simsek2
1North Dakota State University, Department of Plant Sciences, Cereal Science Graduate Program, Fargo, ND 6050, USA. Cassie.anderson@ndsu.edu.
Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 20, 2019
Summary
Biodegradable films from cereal arabinoxylan (AX) offer a plastic alternative. Researchers studied how AX films from wheat, maize, and dried distillers grains, with glycerol or sorbitol, interact with soil and water, showing varied biodegradability and water interactions.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Science
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Current non-biodegradable plastics pose environmental challenges.
- Cereal arabinoxylan (AX) presents a sustainable alternative for packaging materials.
- Research is needed to understand AX-based film properties for practical applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the soil and water interactions of arabinoxylan (AX) films.
- To evaluate biodegradability, moisture content, water solubility, and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of AX films.
- To determine the influence of different cereal sources (wheat bran, maize bran, dried distillers grain) and plasticizers (glycerol, sorbitol) on film properties.
Main Methods:
- Preparation of AX films from wheat bran (WB), maize bran (MB), and dried distillers grain (DDG) AX.
- Incorporation of glycerol or sorbitol at 10%, 25%, or 50% levels into the films.
- Assessment of film biodegradability, moisture content, water solubility, and WVTR.
Main Results:
- Biodegradability ranged from 49.4% (DDG AX with 10% sorbitol) to 67.7% (MB AX with 50% glycerol).
- Maize bran (MB) AX films exhibited extreme properties: lowest moisture (9.7%), highest water solubility (95.6%), and highest WVTR (90.8 g h⁻¹ m⁻²).
- Wheat bran (WB) AX films were least hydrophilic on average, while dried distillers grain (DDG) AX films were most hydrophilic on average.
Conclusions:
- Arabinoxylan (AX) films derived from various cereal sources and plasticizers display diverse water affinities and biodegradation rates.
- The developed AX materials offer tunable properties suitable for various packaging applications.
- These findings support the potential of AX-based materials as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastics.
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