Author(s)

Marisa Zanon, Martin Masuelli^*

Laboratorio de Investigación y Servicios de Química Física (LISeQF-UNSL), Instituto de Física Aplicada-CONICET y AQF-DQ-FQByF-Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina.

Polysaccharides obtained from plant have been investigated for the development of edible/biodegradable non petrochemical-based packaging materials. Alcayota (Curcubita ficifolia) is the fruit of a creeping plant such as watermelon and melon. It is the fruit of a creeping plant such as watermelon and melon. After separating the pulp from the husk and seeds it is dried and ground to obtain a flour. Different alcayota flour is made to hydrolyze then. Alkaline hydrolysis is released to extraction of alcayota gum and is purified by hydroalcoholic solutions. The films were prepared from water solution of hydrolyzed alcayota gum (AlcOH). AlcOH film present properties are mainly due to the strong hydrophilicity. In order to improve water resistance, the films were modified using glutaraldehyde (Glu), in order to make the water insoluble film. The crosslinked films providing a low water vapor permeability (WVP) and high mechanical properties expressed in elastic modulus. The X-ray diffraction showed amorphous and shift to lower d_spacing, i.e. at lower distances between the polysaccharide chains. These crosslinked membranes exhibit excellent water resistance, low O₂ permeation, which make them very useful in selecting biodegradable polymer and films.

Cucurbita Ficifolia, Alcayota Gum, Biopolymer, Films, Crosslinking

Zanon, M. and Masuelli, M. (2018) Alcayota Gum Films: Experimental Reviews. Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 6, 11-58. doi: 10.4236/msce.2018.65002.