Anais do Simpósio Latino Americano de Ciências de Alimentos
Anais do 14 SLACA - Simpósio Latino Americano de Ciência de Alimentos

Petroleum-derived packaging is widely used, but it requires long periods to degrade and generally has an incorrect destination, thus causing environmental impacts. The use of starch-based composite biodegradable packaging for some applications is an alternative to reduce plastic consumption. The addition of malt bagasse (BM) as reinforcement and tricalcium phosphate as an anti-wetting agent (AU) improves the characteristics of expanded starch foams. The objective is to evaluate the impact of the addition of AU and BM on starch foams. The starch foams were prepared with cassava starch (12g), magnesium stearate (1%), glycerol (7.5%) and water (15ml) fixed (Treatment 1). 2.5% AU (Treatment 2), 20% BM (Treatment 3), and 2.5% AU and 20% BM (20%) (Treatment 4) were added to the base formulation. Density was performed with a digital caliper and precision scale, the contact angle was determined by a goniometer and analyzed in suitable software, the color was determined by a portable Minolta CR-400/410 colorimeter and the morphology was evaluated under an optical microscope. Treatments 3 and 4 had density of 0.229 g/cm3 and 0.231 g/cm3, respectively, differing from treatments 1 and 2, with density of 0.174 g/cm3 and 0.172 g/cm3. A more compact matrix was observed in the treatments added with BM, resulting from the higher density of the packages. Treatment 2 had a greater contact angle than treatment 1, due to the addition of an anti-humectant, which improved the formation of foam cells. Treatments 3 and 4 had larger angles, but they did not differ from each other. The BM changed the color of the foams, but the addition of AU did not influence the color. The addition of BM and AU improved the characteristics of the foams, but it is necessary to verify the effect of the concentration of these additives in expanded starch packaging.