EFFECT OF ADDING CRAB SHELL WASTE (Callinectes spp.) ON THE BABASSU MESOCARP FOAM TRAY PROPERTIES

The socio-environmental challenges posed by synthetic plastics are driving the search for sustainable bioplastics. Babassu mesocarp starch is a raw material promising to produce foam tray, but their application is limited due to their hydrophilic nature and low mechanical strength. Thus, this study proposes the use of crab shell waste (Callinectes spp.), rich in minerals, chitin, proteins, and carotenoid, as a reinforcing agent and a source of bioactive compounds to starch foam tray. Thus, foam tray were made from babassu mesocarp starch with added of crab shell flour (10, 20, and 30% relative to the polymer matrix) by thermopressing. The materials were characterized in terms of its mechanical properties using a puncture and tensile test, wettability analysis, water absorption capacity, antioxidant activity and microstructure by MEV. The incorporation of crab shell residue yielded composite foam tray with higher values of strength-to-thickness ratio (from 18.1061 ± 1.4577 to 26.7517 ± 3.5349 N/mm) than the control. The addition of crab residue also increased the contact angle of babassu mesocarp starch, being obtained values in the rage from 65.21° ± 1.94° to 83.64° ± 2.23° for the samples containing 10 to 30% of the residue. Therefore, an increase of hydrophobicity of foam tray was observed with the addition of residue. On the other hand, the water absorption capacity of foam tray was reduced with the addition of residue (from 131.45% to 99.49%). Another notable finding was the increase in the antioxidant potential of the material produced, which had increased with the addition of residue (10 to 30%) in the ranging from 10,776.796 to 14,901.171 μM Trolox/g as measured by ABTS radical scavenging assay. The antioxidant activity of the control foam tray was 3,861.528 μM Trolox/g. Thus, incorporation of crab waste into sustainable packaging improved its mechanical properties, water resistance and bioactivity, outperforming synthetic plastics by providing a physical barrier and acting as an active system.