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Listmates,
I've run across some articles reporting research on using wheat gluten to produce biodegradable plastics. Here are some examples of the citations and abstracts. Is anyone familiar with this research? Is there any chance such things are actually being produced or test marketed?
Deborah in OKC
This one came from the U.S. government’s Agricola database:
Biodegradability of Wheat gluten based bioplastics. S. Domenek, P. Feuilloley, J. Gratraud, M. H. Morel, S. Guilbert. Chemosphere 2004 Jan v. 54 no. 4 p. 551-559. (No abstract available.)
These came from the journals of the American Chemical Society:
Development and Characterization of Biodegradable Films Made from Wheat Gluten Protein Fractions
Pilar Hernández-Muńoz, Antonis Kanavouras, Perry K. W. Ng, and Rafael Gavara
School of Packaging and Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, and Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, CSIC, Apartado Correos 73, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain
Received for review June 18, 2003. Revised manuscript received October 20, 2003. Accepted October 21, 2003. We thank the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station for supporting this project. P.H.-M. was supported by a fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.
Abstract:
Gliadins and glutenins were extracted from commercial wheat gluten on the basis of their extractability in ethanol and used to produce film-forming solutions. Films cast using these gliadin- and glutenin-rich solutions were characterized. Glycerol was used as a plasticizer, and its effect on the films was also studied. Films obtained from the glutenin fraction presented higher tensile strength values and lower elongation at break and water vapor permeability values than gliadin films. Gliadin films disintegrated when immersed in water. The GAB isotherm model was used to describe the equilibrium moisture sorption of the films. The glycerol concentration largely modified mechanical and water vapor barrier properties of both film types.
Drying Temperature and Relative Humidity Effects on Wheat Gluten Film Properties
Betül . Kayserilio lu, Ufuk Bakir,* Levent Yilmaz, and Nuri Akka
Departments of Engineering Science and Chemical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, nönü Bulvari 06531, Ankara, Turkey, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ba kent University, Ba lica Campus, 06530 Ankara, Turkey
Received for review May 21, 2002. Revised manuscript received November 6, 2002. Accepted November 8, 2002.
Abstract:
The mechanical and physical properties of glycerol-plasticized wheat gluten films dried at different temperatures (20, 50, and 80 C) and relative humidities (35 and 70% RH) were investigated. Dispersion of wheat gluten was prepared at pH 11 in aqueous solution. Films were obtained by casting the wheat gluten suspension, followed by solvent evaporation in a temperature and relative humidity controlled chamber. Decreasing relative humidity altered most of the mechanical properties. At 35% RH, tensile strength increased when drying temperature increased. However, at 70% RH, tensile strength decreased when temperature increased. Thickness of the films decreased by increasing temperature. Hypothetical coating strength increased with increasing drying temperature at 35% RH. However, at 70% RH, a maximum value was observed at 50 C. Films produced at 80 C exhibited low solubility in aqueous solution. Addition of 1.5% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate increased solubility of all of the films
except the film dried at 50 C and 70% RH. Overall, drying temperature and relative humidity affected mechanical and physical properties of the wheat gluten films. However, the effect of drying temperature was more pronounced than the effect of relative humidity.
Properties of Deamidated Gluten Films Enzymatically Cross-Linked
C. Larré, C. Desserme, J. Barbot, and J. Gueguen
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité de Biochimie et Technologie des Protéines, B.P. 71627, 44316 Nantes Cedex 3, France
Received for review March 17, 2000. Revised manuscript received July 19, 2000. Accepted July 21, 2000. This research was funded by the European Community in the frame of "Gluten Biopolymers" (FAIR CT 96 1979).
Abstract:
Films were prepared at neutral pH from deamidated gluten by casting with or without enzymatic treatment by transglutaminase in the presence of various concentrations of diamines added to the film-forming solution. Variation in the glycerol/deamidated gluten ratio from 0.2 to 0.5 had a major effect on the film mechanical properties, which is characteristic of a plasticizing effect. A ratio of 0.35, producing a tensile strength of 1.14 ± 0.12 MPa and an elongation at break of 376 ± 62%, was chosen for most of the enzymatic modifications. The action of transglutaminase with or without the addition of external diamines induced a simultaneous increase in tensile strength and elongation at break of the films but tended to decrease the contact angle between the film surface and a water droplet. The presence of diamines in the film solution affected the elongation at break more than the tensile strength of the films. These diamines, able to react at their two extremities, probably acted as
spacers between gluten proteins. The decrease in solubility was related to the formation of high molecular weight polymers in the film. The film properties were unaffected by the type of diamine added as secondary substrate in the transglutaminase reaction.
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