Characterization of nanocrystals obtained from starches with different crystalline patterns and their application in biofilms

• Grant number: 14/04686-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Technology
• Principal Investigator: Celia Maria Landi Franco
• Grantee: Celia Maria Landi Franco
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Starch, cellulose, and chitin are renewable and biodegradable polysaccharides. Among them, starch is probably the most promising material for producing packages, edible films, and garbage bags due to its versatility, low price and availability. Starch-based films have some limitations due to their hydrophilic nature. These films have low barrier properties to water vapor and gas such as CO2 and O2. Their mechanical properties are also a limit factor when compared to those of the synthetic films. The use of nanocrystals in the production of starch-based films may reduce these limitations. Nanotechnology comprises science related with the control and manipulation of matter in a scale lower than size 100 nm. So particles with sizes below 100 nm are called of nanoparticles, which have unique functional properties not found in macroscale. Starch is a semicrystalline polymer, which presents A, B or C X-ray patterns. Starches with B-type crystalline pattern are more resistant to acid hydrolysis than those with A or C-type pattern. Nanocrystals are obtained from acid hydrolysis of granular starch. During hydrolysis the granule amorphous areas are first hydrolyzed and the crystalline areas are released resulting in crystalline nanoparticles, which have physicochemical and structural properties that depend on the botanical source of starch. Due to the platelet shape and dimensions of the nanocrystals obtained from acid hydrolysis, they can be applied in synthetic polymer matrix and biofilms to improve the mechanical resistance and permeability to gases and water vapor of these films. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of starch crystalline pattern on the production and structural and physicochemical characteristics of nanocrystals and their application in starch-based biofilms. Starches with different crystalline patterns such as corn (Type A), potato (Type B), and cassava (Type CA) will be isolated and hydrolyzed with sulfuric acid under controlled conditions for obtaining nanocrystals, which will be characterized physicochemical and structurally. Those with the most appropriate characteristics will be applied in starch-based biofilms. Structural characteristic, mechanical properties and permeability to water vapor, oxygen, and carbon dioxide of the biofilms will be determined. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COSTA, MARIANA SOUZA; VOLANTI, DIOGO PASCHOALINI; EIRAS GROSSMANN, MARIA VICTORIA; LANDI FRANCO, CELIA MARIA. Structural, thermal, and morphological characteristics of cassava amylodextrins. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, v. 98, n. 7, p. 2751-2760, MAY 2018. (13/01500-7, 14/04686-7)