Pectin from plantain peels: Green recovery for transformation into reinforced packaging films

Plantain peels as agro-waste are generated in the millions of tons per year with no profitable management strategies. On the other hand, the excessive use of plastic packaging threatens the environment and human health. This research aimed to address both problems via a green approach. High-quality pectin was recovered from plantain peels via an enzyme-assisted and ethanol-recycling process. The yield and galacturonic acid (GalA) content of the recovered low methoxy pectin was 12.43% and 25.0%, respectively, when cellulase was added at 50 U per 5 g peel powder, with a significantly higher recovery rate and purity than the pectin products extracted with no cellulase (P ≤ 0.05). The recovered pectin was further integrated and reinforced with beeswax solid-lipid nanoparticles (BSLNs) to fabricate films as a potential alternative packaging material to single-use plastics. The reinforced pectin films showed improved light barrier, water resistance, mechanical, conformational, and morphological properties. This study presents a sustainable strategy to transform plantain peels into pectin products and pectin-based packaging films with broad applications.