title: Influence of tragacanth gum in egg white based bioplastics: Thermomechanical and water uptake properties.
abstract: This study aims to extend the range of applications of tragacanth gum by studying its incorporation into bioplastics formulation, exploring the influence that different gum contents (0-20wt.%) exert over the thermomechanical and water uptake properties of bioplastics based on egg white albumen protein (EW). The effect of plasticizer nature was also evaluated through the modification of the water/glycerol ratio within the plasticizer fraction (fixed at 40wt.%). The addition of tragacanth gum generally yielded an enhancement of the water uptake capacity, being doubled at the highest content. Conversely, presence of tragacanth gum resulted in a considerable decrease in the bioplastic mechanical properties: both tensile strength and maximum elongation were reduced up to 75% approximately when compared to the gum-free system. Ageing of selected samples was also studied, revealing an important effect of storage time when tragacanth gum is present, possibly due to its hydrophilic character.
authors: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Sevilla, Facultad de Química, Calle Profesor García González 1, 41012 Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: llcastejon@us.es.
authors: María Luisa
authors: ML
authors: López-Castejón
authors: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Sevilla, Facultad de Química, Calle Profesor García González 1, 41012 Sevilla, Spain.
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Bengoechea
authors: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Centro de Investigación en Tecnología de Productos y Procesos Químicos (Pro2TecS), Campus de 'El Carmen', Universidad de Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain.
authors: Moisés
authors: M
authors: García-Morales
authors: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Centro de Investigación en Tecnología de Productos y Procesos Químicos (Pro2TecS), Campus de 'El Carmen', Universidad de Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain.
authors: Inmaculada
authors: I
authors: Martínez
mesh_terms: D063566:Biodegradable Plastics / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry; D014144:Tragacanth / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D063566:Biodegradable Plastics; D004527:Egg Proteins; D014867:Water; D014144:Tragacanth; D005990:Glycerol
keywords: Ageing; Bioplastic; Egg white; Mechanical properties; Plasticizer; Tragacanth gum