PATI BUTIOKA POLYMER
POLYMER PATI BUTIOKA AS A NEW BREAKTHROUGH EDIBLE PACKAGING FOOD THAT IS HYGIENIC AND ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY
M. Suba'I, Alfagari, Aditya
Faculty of Economics, State University of Malang
Jl. Surabaya No. 6 Malang
Abstract: Technological developments have influenced variations in packaging forms and technologies as a way of protecting and extending the shelf life of agricultural products. Now, the use of plastic as a packaging material is increasing. In fact, this synthetic packaging can actually damage health and the environment. Therefore, use it edible packaging as an alternative packaging. Edible packaging made from components made from starch polysaccharides so that the utilization of tapioca starch has the potential to reduce production costs. Generally, manufacture edible packaging through processes of dissolving, heating, printing, cooling, drying and storage. Potency edible packaging as primary packaging, barriers, binders, and coatings are expected to encourage the discovery of other basic materials to improve quality edible packaging while reducing environmental problems.
Keywords: Packaging, Edible Packaging, Tapioca Starch Polymers
Packaging is also called wrapping, packaging or packaging is one way of preserving agricultural produce, because packaging can extend the shelf life of the material. The most basic function of packaging is to contain and protect products from damage, making it easier to store, transport and market. In general, the function of packaging in foodstuffs is to accommodate products during distribution from producers to consumers, protect and preserve products, as product identities, increase efficiency, expand product use and marketing, increase product attractiveness to potential buyers, information and advertising facilities, and provide comfort for product users.
As a container, the packaging functions so that the product is not scattered, especially for liquids, pastes or granules. As a protection, the packaging functions to protect from ultraviolet rays, heat, humidity, oxygen, collisions, and contamination from dirt and microbes that can damage and reduce product quality. In addition, packaging can serve to simplify calculations and storage so that product marketing can reach a wider area.
The function of packaging continues to increase with increasing competition in the food industry. Recently, this secondary function has become more prominent in an effort to attract the attention of potential buyers. For this reason, the packaging design tends to be multi-colored and shiny so that it is attractive and has a luxurious impression and a shape that makes it easy to use the product. All this is done to impress the packaging is a quality and expensive product. Do not forget, this packaging design is also very up to date so that it seems to keep up with the times.
Apart from the above functions, packaging also has a special role for producers, governments and consumers. For producers, packaging functions as a monitoring device, promotional media, and extension media or instructions on how to use and benefit the products contained therein. Meanwhile, for the government, packaging can be used as a consumer protection effort. For consumers themselves, packaging is often used as a source of information about the contents of the product, this is very important in order to make a decision to buy the product or not.
Packaging also has a black side because it is often misused by manufacturers to cover quality deficiencies or product defects, propagating products disproportionately or misleadingly so as to lead to fraud or counterfeiting. The packaging of foodstuffs can also add to production costs, and at times the cost of packaging can be much higher than the price of contents.
For products consumed by consumer groups who prioritize service, this is not a problem, however, for products consumed by the general public, high packaging costs need to be avoided. At least the main packaging costs are around 10-15% of product cost and additional packaging costs are only around 5-15% of product costs.
Along with the development of technology, the form and technology of packaging have also increased and varied. Now tea drinks in plastic bags and rice wrapped in banana leaves have developed into catering boxes to wine in beautiful bottles and packaging with red tape. Variations in packaging can be seen from the emergence of bottles, cans, traps, corrugated box, vacuum packaging, aseptic packaging, pressure cans, tube packaging to active and smart packaging (active and intelligent packaging) which can adjust the environmental conditions in the package to the needs of the product in the package.
The arrangement of packaging construction is also increasingly complex, from the primary, secondary, tertiary levels to constructions that can no longer be separated between their functions as a packaging or as a storage unit, for example in containers equipped with refrigerators (refrigerated container) contains frozen shrimp for export. The packaging material industry in Indonesia has also been increasing, such as the industry that produces cardboard packaging, glass packaging, plastic packaging, laminate packaging whose products have filled the needs of the community and the industrial world. In addition, until now in rural areas there are still many people who live from traditional packaging materials, such as sellers of wrapping leaves (banana leaves, teak leaves, waru leaves and so on), or at the home industry level there are craftsmen in the basket basket industry, wooden boxes. , woven fibers, pottery containers and others.
Currently, there are many types of materials used to package food, including various types of plastic, paper, fibreboard, glass, tinplate. and aluminum (Syamsir, E. 2008). Based on the basic material for its manufacture, the types of food packaging currently available are paper, glass, can / metal, plastic and composite packaging or packaging which is a combination of several types of packaging materials, for example a combination of paper and plastic or plastic, paper and metal. Each type of packaging material has its own characteristics, and this is the basis for selecting the appropriate type of packaging for food products.
Paper packaging is not easily torn and flexible, unfortunately paper packaging cannot be used to package liquid products and cannot be heated. Unlike the case with glass and metal packaging, glass and metal packaging is capable of packaging liquid and heat-resistant products. However, glass and metal packaging also have drawbacks. Glass packaging tends to be heavy, breakable, inflexible, expensive, and non-biodegradable even though it can be recycled. Meanwhile, metal packaging, although relatively light, can contaminate food ingredients and be difficult to recycle.
Other materials that are often used to make packaging are composites and plastics. Composites are stronger than paper and are specially made for liquid products. However, this packaging material is also non-biodegradable.
Plastic has its own privileges as a packaging material. Recently, the intensity of using plastic as food packaging has increased. Thing this due to the many advantages of plastic over other packaging materials. Plastics are much lighter than glass or metal and don't break easily. This material can also be formed in sheets and can also be made into pockets or made rigid so that it can be formed with designs and sizes as desired.
However, the use of plastic as a packaging material has also caused various environmental problems. The main drawback is that plastic cannot be recycled and is naturally broken down by microbes in the soil, causing a buildup of plastic waste which causes pollution and damage to the environment. Garbage plastic on average accounts for about 10 percent of the total volume of waste. Of that amount, very little is recycled. It takes 300-500 years for it to decompose or break down completely. Burning plastic is not a good choice either, incompletely burning plastic is below 800 oC, will form dioxins. This compound is dangerous (Vedder, T. 2008). In addition, the matter of making plastics also leaves a problem, petroleum as the main material for making plastics is a non-renewable natural resource and its existence in nature is increasingly depleting.
Based on the description above, it has been explained that currently a food product cannot be separated from its packaging. For that, we must pay attention to the interaction between food products and their packaging. Most of the product food interacts with its packaging at different intensities. Migration or transfer of chemicals from monomers, polymers or packaging additives is one of the mechanisms used to explain the interaction between packaging and packaged products. Factors that influence the migration of packaging components into products are the type and concentration of packaging components, characteristics of packaged food and temperature, storage time and other environmental parameters. It is this interaction of food products with their packaging that can sometimes cause quality deviations.
Quality deviation is a qualitative depreciation in which the material has decreased in quality so that it becomes unfit for human consumption. Damaged food ingredients experience a change in taste, decrease in nutritional value or are no longer safe to eat because they can interfere with health. This condition is often caused because food has expired or has passed its shelf life (shelf life).
Quantitative shrinkage causes foodstuffs to lose the quantity or weight of agricultural produce, and this is caused by poor handling or due to biological disturbances (physiological processes, insect and rat attack). Quantitative losses and qualitative losses are important in packaging, and qualitative losses are more important than quantitative losses.
Packaging affects food quality, among others, through physical and chemical changes due to the migration of chemical substances from packaging materials (plastic monomers, tin, corrosion), as well as changes in flavor, color, texture, which are influenced by the transfer of water vapor and O2. Packaged foodstuffs undergo changes during storage, and these changes can occur both for fresh food and for food that has undergone processing. The changes that occur can be in the form of biochemical, chemical changes or the migration of elements into foodstuffs.
Fresh (unprocessed) food ingredients such as grains, vegetables, fruits, meat and milk will undergo biochemical changes after they are harvested or separated from their parents. These fresh ingredients generally contain high enough water to allow for enzyme activity and cause changes in color, texture, aroma and nutritional value of ingredients. Examples of biochemical changes that occur in food items are browning of fruit that is bruised or has peeled skin, or fresh meat that turns green and has a bad smell.
Chemical changes that occur in foodstuffs are caused by the use of antioxidants, fungicides, plasticizers, dyes and pesticides that can migrate into food. Packaging can prevent the migration of these materials into food.
Metals such as tin, iron, lead and aluminum in large quantities will be toxic and harmful to human health. Corroded containers and processing machines can cause metal contamination in foodstuffs. Factors that can influence the occurrence of corrosiveness are organic acids, nitrates, oxidizing agent, or reducing agents, storage, temperature, humidity and the presence or absence of coatings (enamels). Poisoning caused by these metals can be in the form of mild or severe poisoning such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness and excessive cold sweat.
Migration of packaging components into packaged products will be a problem if these components endanger consumer health. Some incidents of migration of packaging components into the product may not endanger the health of consumers but cause negative effects on the product such as odor and taste distortion. This can reduce the level of consumer acceptance of the product.
Plastics and additives in the manufacture of plasticizers, stabilizers and antioxidants can migrate into food packaged in plastic packaging and cause poisoning. Plastic monomers that are suspected of being harmful to human health are vinyl chloride, acrylonitrile, metacrylonitrile, vinylidenchloride and styrene.
Vinyl chloride and acrylonitrile monomers have the potential to cause cancer in humans. Vinyl acetate can cause thyroid, uterine and liver cancer in animals. Vinyl chloride and vinyl cyanide are mutagenic to microbes Salmonella typhimurium. Acrylonitrile can cause birth defects in rats that eat it. Acrylate, styrene and methacrylate monomers and their derivative compounds such as vinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), caprolactants, formaldehyde, cresol, organic isocyanates, hexa-methylenediamine, melamine, epidiclorohydrin, bispenol and acrylonitrile can cause irritation to the digestive tract, especially the mouth, throat and stomach. Plasticizers such as phosphoric esters, ptallic esters, glycolic, chlorinated aromatics and adipatic acid esters can cause irritation.
Research conducted by (Nerin 2002) revealed that most plastics experience an increase in temperature to about 90oC and some will reach temperatures over 180oC if heated in a microwave oven for 5 minutes. Under these conditions, heated plastics were also detected to form volatile and semivolatile components that could migrate into the food. Plastic heating can occur in the form of pellets or as packaging. The pellets might be heating up during the printing process. It is known that heating the pellet sample yields methyl-benzene, ethyl-benzene, 1-phenene and styrene. Meanwhile, the heated packaging container, apart from containing 4 components, also contains xylene and 1,4-dichlorobenzen. All of these components are toxic and must be limited in the presence of foodstuffs. Plastic packaging containers are important to pay attention to because the content of toxic components, especially methyl-benzene, is so high that they should not be used as packaging for hot dishes or for heating together with the packaging. So, it is very important to guarantee that warming up plastic packaging will not form other components or the resulting components will not enter the vapor phase or into the food it is packed with.
Packaging materials such as metals, glass and plastics are good barriers to the entry of microorganisms into the packaging materials, but packaging covers are a major source of contamination. Packaging that is folded or stapled or simply double-coated is a poor packaging finish. The cause of contamination of microorganisms in food is contamination from air or water through holes in packages that are closed hermetically, closing (the process sealer) imperfect, heat used in the process sealer on plastic film is not quite because sealer contamination by the product or improper temperature regulation, as well as damage such as tearing or folding in the packaging material.
Food packaging greatly affects the sterility or preservation of foodstuffs that have been sterilized, irradiated or heated by ohmic heating. The permeability of the packaging to gas will affect the growth of microorganisms, especially against pathogenic anaerobic microorganisms.
To protect packaged foodstuffs against contamination by microorganisms, it is necessary to select the type of packaging that can protect the material from attack by microorganisms. Factors that need to be considered in choosing a good type of packaging to prevent microbial contamination include the protective properties of the product from the entry of microorganisms from outside the package into the product, the possibility of microorganisms to multiply in the space between the product with the lid, and the attack of microorganisms on the packaging material.
Mechanical factors can also spoil fresh agricultural produce and processed food items. Stress or physical stress such as friction, pressure, even falling can cause food damage. Vibration (vibration) can also result in damage to materials or packaging during travel or distribution. Therefore, the type of protection provided for foodstuffs or food packaging to prevent mechanical damage depends on the model, the number of stacks of goods or packaging, the type of transportation (land, sea or air), and the type of goods. The ability of packaging to protect the materials it is packed with from mechanical damage depends on its ability to withstand stress due to piles in warehouses or on means of transportation, friction with tools during handling, rupture or fracture due to collisions during handling, and vibrations during transportation.
Some food items such as fresh fruit, eggs and biscuits are highly perishable and require a higher level of protection to prevent friction between ingredients. For this problem often used tissue paper, plastic sheets, paper that is formed as individual packaging (eg cartons for eggs, fruit containers, etc.). Other foodstuffs are protected by packaging them in a rigid package and their movement is limited by plastic packaging shrink film which can pack the product tightly. Wooden crates or metal drums are packaging with good mechanical protection. These packages have now been replaced by cheaper composite materials made of fiber boxes (fiberboard) and polypropylene.
Loss of water or increase in moisture content is an important factor in determining the shelf life of food products. Packaging provides microclimate conditions for the materials it packs, and these conditions are determined by the water vapor pressure of the food at storage temperature and the permeability of the package. Control of water content in packaging and foodstuffs can prevent damage by microorganisms and enzymes, decrease the appearance (texture) value of microbes or prevent freezer burn frozen foodstuffs.
Foodstuffs that have a low relative humidity (RH) balance, such as dry food, biscuits and snack, requires packaging with low water permeability so as not to lose its crispiness. If the water activity value of the material increases so that it is in accordance with the aw level required by the microbes, the microbes will grow and the material will become damaged. Packaging must also be able to prevent color from entering the plasticizer, packaging printing ink, adhesives or solvents used in the manufacture of packaging.
Glass and metal packaging is impermeable to gases and vapors, while plastic films have a wide permeability range depending on the thickness, chemical composition and molecular structure and orientation in the plastic film. The odor that comes from plastic packaging can arise from the formation of carbonyl groups when polyethylene plastic is heated at high temperatures, antioxidants that can interact and form odorous products, as well as molecular fragments in the packaging. Oxygen can cause unwanted oxidation processes for oxygen sensitive products such as vitamins A and C.
Control of storage temperature is important to be able to keep foodstuffs from changing temperatures. If the packaging is used to package products to be heated in packaging such as sterilization in packaging or ready-to-eat food that is heated inside microwave, then the packaging used must be resistant to high temperatures. The insulation effect of the packaging is determined by the thermal conductivity and reflectivity of the packaging. Low thermal conductivity packaging materials such as cardboard boxes, polystyrene or polyurethanes reduce conductive heat transfer, and reflective packaging materials such as aluminum foil will reflect heat.
The transmission of light into the package is sometimes required so that we can see the contents of the package. But for products that are sensitive to light, for example fats that will undergo oxidation in the presence of light or damage to riboflavin and natural pigments, opaque packaging (dark color) must be used so that light cannot pass through. The amount of light that can be absorbed or transmitted depends on the packaging material, its wavelength and the length of time it is exposed to light. Some packaging materials such as low density polyethylene (LDPE) transmit visible light (visible) and ultraviolet, whereas polyvinyl chloride (PVC) packaging transmits visible light but the ultraviolet light is absorbed. Changes that occur due to light include color fading, such as in meat and tomato sauce, rancidity in butter (especially if there is a Cu catalyst), browning in grapes and fruit juices, changes in odor and decreased content of vitamins A, D, E, K and C.
Safe plasticizers for food packaging are heptyl phthalate, dioctyl adipate, dimethyl heptyl adipate, di-N-decyl adipate, active benzyl adipate, esters of citric, oleic and citric acids. Safe stabilizers to use are calcium, magnesium and sodium salts, while antioxidants are rarely used because they are carcinogenic.
Along with human awareness of the importance of packaging and the problems associated with it, research on packaging materials is directed at organic materials that can be destroyed naturally and are easily obtained. This packaging is called the packaging of the future (future packaging). The characteristics of future packaging are expected to be flexible but strong, transparent, odorless, non-contaminating and non-toxic, heat resistant, biodegradable and comes from renewable materials. These materials are in the form of agricultural products such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Like other packaging in general, the selection of this type of packaging must be suitable for foodstuffs, must consider the requirements for good packaging for the product, as well as the characteristics of the product to be packaged. The conditions that must be fulfilled by a package in order to function properly are that it must be able to protect the product from dirt and contamination so that the product remains clean, can protect from physical damage, changes in moisture, gas, and irradiation (light) content, is easy to open / closed, easy to handle and easy to transport and distribution, efficient and economical especially during the process of filling the product into packaging, must have a size, shape and weight in accordance with existing norms or standards, easy to dispose of and easy to shape or print, can show identity , information and product appearance clearly to assist promotion or sales.
The choice of packaging types for food products must also pay attention to consumer preferences, which are increasingly demanding. For example, soy sauce packaging available in the market is glass bottle packaging, plastic bottles and sachet packaging, fruit juice drinks available in laminated cardboard or plastic cups, as well as packaged ready-to-eat food that can be directly put into the oven without having to move to another container and single serve packaging which is very practical. The variety of packaging gives consumers the opportunity to freely choose so that each type of packaging will have its own consumer.
That's why currently research on packaging materials is directed at organic materials, which can be destroyed naturally and are easily obtained. As stated above, alternative packaging must be flexible, strong, transparent, odorless, non-contaminating, non-toxic, heat-resistant, biodegradable and comes from renewable materials. Packaging materials that can meet these requirements are agricultural products such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The packaging of these materials is also known as edible packaging (Edible packaging) and packaging biodegradable.
Edible packaging is edible packaging because it is made from edible ingredients such as starch, protein or fat. If thrown away, Edible packaging can be degraded through photochemical processes or by using microbial destroyers (Paramawati, R. 2001). The advantage of edible packaging is that it can protect food products, the original appearance of the product can be maintained and can be eaten immediately and is safe for the environment.
Edible packaging divided into two major groups, namely those that function as coatings (edible coating) and in sheet form (edible film). Edible coating widely used for coating frozen meat products, semi-wet food (intermediate moisture food), confectionary products, frozen chicken, seafood products, sausages, fruits and medicines especially for capsule coatings (Krochta, 1994).
Edible film is a thin layer made of edible material, formed on top of food components that function as an inhibitor for mass transfer (e.g. moisture, oxygen, fat and solutes) and / or as a carrier for food ingredients or additives and or to improve food handling (Krochta, 1994). Edible film must have the same properties as packaging films such as plastics, namely must have water retention properties so as to prevent the product from losing moisture, have selective permeability to certain gases, control the transfer of dissolved solids to retain color, natural pigments and nutrients, and become a material carrier additives such as colorants, preservatives and flavor enhancers that improve the quality of foodstuffs.
Use edible film for packaging food products such as sausages, fresh fruits and vegetables can slow down the quality degradation. This is caused by edible film can function as a diffusion barrier for oxygen gas, carbon dioxide and water vapor and flavor components. This capability creates internal atmospheric conditions suitable for the needs of the packaged product.
The constituent components edible film will affect the morphological shape and characteristics of the package directly. The main constituent components edible film grouped into three, namely hydrocolloid, lipid and composite. Additional ingredients that are often found in manufacturing edible film is an antimicrobial, antioxidant, flavor and colorant.
Hydrocolloid used in the manufacture edible film in the form of protein or polysaccharides. The basic ingredients for protein can come from corn, soybeans, wheat gluten, casein, collagen, gelatin, corn zein, milk protein and fish protein. Polysaccharides used in the manufacture of edible films are cellulose and its derivatives, starch and its derivatives, pectins, seaweed extracts (alginant, carrageenan, agar), gum (gum arabic, and gum karaya), xanthan, and chitosan. Some polysaccharide polymers that are cheap and easy to obtain are tapioca starch, which is mainly sourced from cassava.
Commonly used fat in manufacturing edible film is a natural wax (beeswax, carnauba wax, paraffin wax), acyl glycerol, fatty acids (oleic acid and lauric acid) as well emulsifier. Mixtures of lipids and hydrocolloids (composites) for edible film often use lipids in starch from corn. This time we will try tapioca starch from cassava to replace lipids from corn so that it is more economical.
A fairly large component in the making edible film is plasticizer. Plasticizer is an organic material with low molecular weight to weaken polymer stiffness while increasing polymer flexibility and extensibility (Syamsir, E. 2008). In edible film, plasticizer serves to increase the flexibility and extensibility of the film, prevent the film from cracking, increase permeability to gases, water vapor and solutes, and increase the elasticity of the film.
Several types plasticizer which can be used in manufacturing edible film are glycerol, beeswax, polyvinyl alcohol and sorbitol. Other types of plasticizers for manufacture edible film is lauric acid (CH3(CH2)10COOH), Octanoic acid (CH3(CH2)6COOH), lactic acid (CH3(CH2)7COOH), triethylene glycol (CH2CH2OCH2OH)2), polyethylene glycol (H (OCH2CH2)nOH). The mechanism of the polymer plasticization process as a result of the addition of a plasticizer through the sequence of discussion and adsorption, breaking and / or penetration of the surface, adsorption and diffusion, breaking of the amorphous part, and cutting the structure (Julianti, et al. 2006).
Lactic acid as plasticizer making edible film also can be made from cassava, because it's manufacture edible film from cassava will be easier. Lactic acid with a molecular weight of 90, is technically made by fermentation of carbohydrates such as glucose, sucrose and lactose with the help of Bacillus acidilacti, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, L. bulgaricus and others (Julianti, et al. 2006).
Making process edible film starting from dissolving the basic ingredients of tapioca starch in the form of hydrocolloids, lipids or composites, then the addition is carried out plasticizer. The mixture is heated at 55-70oC for 15 minutes. Film is molded (casting) by pouring the dough on the surface of a smooth polyethylene sheet using auto-casting machine. Then left for several hours at a temperature of 35oC with room RH 50%. The resulting film was then dried for 12-18 hours at a temperature of 30oC RH 50% and continued with storage (conditioning) indoors for 24 hours using ambient temperature and RH (Harris, 2001).
Another form of edible packaging is edible coating, namely the coating of food ingredients with an edible coating. Raw materials for manufacturing edible coating together with edible film, it's just in the making edible coating no additions plasticizer, so that the resulting coating is not in the form of a film. Examples of standard manufacturing procedures edible coating is the basic ingredient of soy protein isolate (ISP).
Coating methods for edible coating is dyeing, spraying or shading. The method of dyeing is done by dipping the food ingredients in edible coating. To get a flat surface, a coat is needed. After dyeing, the excess mantle is drained into the product and then dried to obtain a hard texture. A more practical method, spraying, is done by spraying edible coating on food on one side so that the results are more uniform. The pouring method is done by pouring edible coating onto the material to be coated. This technique produces a soft material and a flat surface, but the thickness must be considered because it affects the surface of the material.
In general the important mechanical characteristics of edible film is the tensile strength (tensile strength), stab strength (puncture strength), percent lengthening (elongation to break), and elasticity (elastic modulus/young modulus). These parameters can explain how the mechanical characteristics of the film material are related to its chemical structure. The tensile strength parameter describes the maximum force that occurs on the film during the measurement. The results of this measurement are closely related to the number plasticizer added to the film-making process. The addition of a plasticizer of more than a certain amount will produce a film with a lower tensile strength (Harris, 2001).
The elastic modulus is the reciprocal of the percent elongation, as it decreases with increasing quantity plasticizer in the film. The modulus of elasticity is the basic measure of stiffness (stiffness) a film (Harris, 2001).
The permeability value of a film is used to estimate the shelf life of the products encapsulated in it. The permeability value can also determine what products can be packaged in the film. The permeability value includes permeability to water and gas vapor.
Edible film of hydrocolloid has several advantages, namely being able to protect from oxygen, CO2, and lipids. In addition, the structural integrity of the product can be increased because the desired mechanical properties can be achieved. However, edible film hydrocolloids are not good for regulating water vapor migration and are influenced by changes in pH.
Advantages edible film of lipids is to protect the protection product from water. However, its integrity and resilience are not very good. Therefore, to combine the two types of edible films, this is used edible film composite (combination of hydrocolloid and lipid). Edible film composites can increase the advantages of hydrocolloid and lipid films while reducing the weakness.
This time edible film has been widely used in the packaging of fresh fruit products to control the rate of respiration. Not only that, other food products have also been widely used edible coating. Confectionary products, frozen meat and chicken, sausages, seafood products, and semi-wet foods are some examples of foodstuffs that are often used edible coating as a packager (Harris, 2001).
Applications from edible film or edible coating divided into groups of primary packaging, barrier, binder, and coating. As the primary packaging for food products edible film or edible coating has been used to package candy, fresh vegetables and fruits, sausages, meat and seafood products.
As a barrier, a film formed from reactions gellan gum with mono or bivalent salts, traded under the trade name Kelcoge, is a good barrier to absorption of oil in ingredients that are fried. Therefore, the barrier of this film is very good for producing materials with low oil content.
As a binder, edible film can also be applied to snack or crackers seasoned. Here edible film acts as a binder or adhesive from the spices in order to be more attached to the product. This coating is useful for reducing fat in fried ingredients with the addition of spices.
As a coating, edible film useful for replacing eggs in products bakery. The advantage is that the appearance of the product can remain more attractive without accelerating contamination by microbes such as when using eggs as a coating.
Advantages of use edible film for foodstuff packaging is to accommodate and protect the product from damage, so that it is easier to store, transport and market. Its additional function is to attract consumers in the food industry. Advantages Edible film compared to synthetic packaging, it is edible with the product it is packed with and especially its environmentally friendly nature.
Making edible film it is relatively easy, the material for making it comes from easily available organic materials. Edible film made from dissolving the basic ingredients of tapioca starch in the form of hydrocolloids, lipids or composites, then the addition is carried out plasticizer. The mixture is heated at 55-70oC for 15 minutes. Printed film (casting) by pouring the dough on the smooth surface of the polyethylene sheet using auto-casting machine. Then left for several hours at a temperature of 35oC with RH room 50%. The resulting film was then dried for 12-18 hours at a temperature of 30oC RH 50% and continued with storage (conditioning) indoors for 24 hours using ambient temperature and RH.
Besides edible another term for packaging derived from agricultural products is biopolymers, namely agricultural polymers which are used as raw material for packaging films without being mixed with synthetic polymers (plastics). Just like edible film, the packaging of this material is also environmentally friendly because it can be degraded naturally in a relatively short time.
The amount of potential edible film as an alternative packaging that is environmentally friendly it is hoped that it can encourage its implementation further research to find the material of manufacture edible film which so far have not been empowered. In addition to reducing environmental problems caused by plastic waste, it is hoped that materials can also be found edible film by having the best characteristics.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Vedder, Taylor. 2008. The Surprises about Packaging. Massachusets: McGraw-Hill.