Properties of thermoplastic starch from cassava bagasse and cassava starch and their blends with poly (lactic acid)

Cassava bagasse is an inexpensive and broadly available waste byproduct from cassava starch production. It contains roughly 50% cassava starch along with mostly fiber and could be a valuable feedstock for various bioproducts. Cassava bagasse and cassava starch were used in this study to make fiber-reinforced thermoplastic starch (TPS_B and TPS_I, respectively). In addition, blends of poly (lactic acid) and TPS_I (20%) and TPS_B (5, 10, 15, 20%) were prepared as a means of producing low cost composite materials with good performance. The TPS and PLA blends were prepared by extrusion and their morphological, mechanical, spectral, and thermal properties were evaluated. The results showed the feasibility of obtaining thermoplastic starches from cassava bagasse. The presence of fiber in the bagasse acted as reinforcement in the TPS matrix and increased the maximum tensile strength (0.60 MPa) and the tensile modulus (41.6 MPa) compared to cassava starch TPS (0.40 and 2.04 MPa, respectively). As expected, blending TPS with PLA reduced the tensile strength (55.4 MPa) and modulus (2.4 GPa) of neat PLA. At higher TPS_B content (20%) the maximum strength (19.9 MPa) and tensile modulus (1.7 GPa) were reduced about 64% and 32%, respectively, compared to the PLA matrix. In comparison, the tensile strength (16.7) and modulus (1.2 GPa) of PLA blends made with TPS_I were reduced 70% and 51% respectively. The fiber from the cassava bagasse was considered a filler since no increase in tensile strength of PLA/TPS blends was observed. The TPS_I (33.1%) had higher elongation to break compared to both TPS_B (4.9%) and PLA (2.6%). The elongation to break increased from 2.6% to 14.5% by blending TPS_I with PLA. In contrast, elongation to break decreased slightly by blending TPS_B with PLA. Thermal analysis indicated there was some low level of interaction between PLA and TPS. In PLA/TPS_B blends, the TPS_B increased the crystallinity of the PLA component compared to neat PLA. The fiber component of TPS_B appeared to have a nucleating effect favoring PLA crystallization.     

Composite materials of thermoplastic starch and fibers from the ethanol-water fractionation of bagasse

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of the fibrous material obtained from ethanol-water fractionation of bagasse as reinforcement of thermoplastic starches in order to improve their mechanical properties. The composites were elaborated using matrices of corn and cassava starches plasticized with 30 wt% glycerin. The mixtures (0, 5, 10 and 15 wt% bagasse fiber) were elaborated in a rheometer at 150 °C. The mixtures obtained were pressed on a hot plate press at 155 °C. The test specimens were obtained according to ASTM D638. Tensile tests, moisture absorption tests for 24 days (20-23 °C and 53% RH, ASTM E104), and dynamic-mechanical analyses (DMA) in tensile mode were carried out. Images by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction were obtained. Fibers (10 wt% bagasse fiber) increased tensile strength by 44% and 47% compared to corn and cassava starches, respectively. The reinforcement (15 wt% bagasse fiber) increased more than fourfold the elastic modulus on starch matrices. The storage modulus at 30 °C (E_30 °C′) increased as the bagasse fiber content increased, following the trend of tensile elastic modulus. The results indicate that these fibers have potential applications in the development of biodegradable composite materials.     

The addition of corn fiber gum improves the long-term stability and retrogradation properties of corn starch

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the stability and physical properties of starch gels could be improved by adding small amounts of corn fiber gum (CFG). In the differential scanning calorimeter measurement, the enthalpy of retrogradation was 7.30 J/g for starch without CFG and 4.30 J/g for starch composite gel with 1.0% CFG. The addition of 1.0% CFG to starch significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the degree of retrogradation during the long-term storage from 61.6% to 36.5%. The addition of CFG retarded the syneresis of the starch system from 17.97% and 34.93%–6.15% and 26.57% after storage for 7 and 14 days respectively. The crystallization peak of starch containing 0.5–1.0% CFG was quite diminished. When compared with the starch gel alone, the addition of CFG significantly lowered the hardness of the composite starch gel from 60.92 to 45.81 N after 14 days storage. The starch gel without CFG showed the lowest rapidly digestible starch content and the highest resistant starch content in comparison to starch/CFG composite gels after 7 and 14 days storage. Over all, the addition of CFG considerably inhibits the retrogradation of corn starch gels during long-term storage.     

Gluten free rice cookies with resistant starch ingredients from modified waxy rice starches: Nutritional aspects and textural characteristics

Experimental gluten-free (GF) rice cookies were formulated with 100% rice flour (CTR) or by substituting 50% of rice flour with native waxy rice starch (WRS) or with three different resistant starch (RS) ingredients obtained from debranched, annealed or acid and heat-moisture treated WRS (RS_a, RS_b and RS_c, respectively). Chemical composition, in vitro starch digestibility and physical and textural characteristics were carried out. Among cookies, RS_a-cookies had the highest total dietary fibre content, the lowest rapidly digestible starch and the highest RS contents. All the three RS preparations have proved effective in increasing the proportion that tested as RS with respect to native WRS. However, the estimated RS loss for each applied RS ingredients caused by the baking process followed the order of RS_a < RS_c < RS_b. Last, the lowest vitro glycaemic index value was measured for RS_a-cookies. Among cookies, differences in colour and hardness were reported. The partial replacement of commercial rice flour with RS_a could contribute to formulate GF cookies with higher dietary fibre content and likely slowly digestible starch properties more than equivalent amounts of RS_b and RS_c.     

Improvement of dietary fiber,ferulic acid and calcium contents in pan bread enriched with nejayote food additive from white maize (Zea mays)

Nejayote is the wastewater from the alkaline-cooking of maize and its solids are rich in dietary fiber (45.3%), calcium (5.7%) and ferulic acid (219 mg/100 g). Nejayote solids were used to develop a food additive (NS) consisting of 80% nejayote solids and 20% gluten. NS was incorporated at 3, 6 or 9%, in wheat flour to increase the dietary fiber, calcium, phenolics and antioxidant capacity of breads. The addition of 9% NS did not affect overall baking performance and bread quality but increased dietary fiber up to 54% in composite breads. Moreover, enriched breads contained about 745 times more free ferulic acid and increased approximately 70% their antioxidant capacity. Two slices of bread (64 g) supplemented with 9% of NS provided 29% of the recommended calcium intake. Thus, the NS could be used as a value-added food-ingredient for the preparation of composite bakery-products with improved dietary fiber, calcium, nutraceuticals and antioxidant properties.