4th International Conference on Sustainable Bioplastics November 10-11, 2016 Alicante, Spain

Carmem Cicera Maria da Silva Campelo is a bacharelor’s in chemistry from Universidade Federal do Piauí (2003), has Master in Chemisty at the same institution. She is a professor at the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul. Curretly she is at a phd student at program at the Faculty of Exact Science and Techology (FACET) at the Federal University Grande Dourados (UFGD). Her experience is based on chemistry with focus on Physical Chemistry, acting in cenostigma macrophyllum, lupeol and biodisel.

The frying oil is gaining prominence due to growing demand for biofuels, as raw material appears as an alternative energy lowering environmental impact. The difficulty of an effective oil gathering in micro and macro sphere to supply the biodiesel production from this raw material is evident. Lack of application of a standard operating procedure in the oil handling in commercial scope, affects its quality, compromising the collection intended for biodiesel production and even more for food consumption. Through three feeding points in the university town, frying oil samples were collected named A, B, C, which were physic-chemically characterized. In the establishments were applied an evaluation questionnaire about the handling and use of oil and then was elaborated a training with application of a standard procedure in order to minimize impurities in the raw material. In parallel, gathering points were set in the university town (UEMS and UFGD), generating socio-environmental awareness and highlighting the importance of conscious disposal of household waste, thus promoting the importance of an efficient collection not only of commercial oils, but also of household. The oil collected in the feeding sites presented very different physic-chemical characteristics from the commercial soybean oil, mainly in the parameters of acidity, water content, fat and impurities, making them unsuitable for food and also for the biodiesel production, which strengthens the idea of awareness about the effective collection.

Mrs. Elena Dominguez Solera, holds a Bachelor Degree in Chemical Engineer from the Universidad Politécnica of Valencia (Spain) with a Master in Technology of Polymeric Materials and Composites. Researcher at the Department of Sustainability and Industrial Recovery of AIMPLAS since 2015. Among the activities which carry on, are included: research in the fields of new material developments, manufacturing processes, recycling/recovery of materials and eco-design. She also has experience in the field of bioplastics/biocomposites and implements laboratory tests (according to established standards and relevant legislation) for determination of biodegradability (in different environments) and compostability of these materials.

Biodegradable polymers are being increasingly used in several applications, such as packaging, disposable non-wovens and hygiene products, consumer goods and agricultural products. A wide variety of biodegradable polymers have been developed, both from petrochemical and renewable sources. Polylactic acid (PLA) is the most demanded biodegradable polymer in the market, which is mainly used for the manufacture of compostable packaging. ISO 13432 establishes the requirements for packaging to be considered as recoverable through composting and biodegradation, including the test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging. The test scheme typically involves the following analysis and testing: chemical characterization (heavy metals and volatile organic compounds), biodegradation, disintegration and eco-toxicity (of the composted product). Test on disintegration is usually the most limiting factor for plastic products to be accepted as compostable. This paper will present the main findings of a study on the degree of disintegration of different PLA commercial grades. Samples of pellets and sheets with various thicknesses were tested under simulated composting conditions in a labscale test. The degree and speed of disintegration of these samples were measured and compared with each other. Hence, the effect of the shape and thickness of the product on the disintegration was evaluated. Based on these findings, recommendations for product design and waste conditioning prior to composting were provided to ensure the compostability of PLA products.

Hiléia K S Souza has received her PhD in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto. Currently, she is doing her Post-doctoral research in the line of Food Quality and Safety at the Requimte- Laboratory for Green Chemistry, Clean Technologies and Processes at the University of Porto. Her main research interests now are centered on the study of Biomolecules (polysaccharides and proteins) and their application in the Food Industry. She has published more than 30 papers in international peer reviewed journals.

There is a worldwide interest in replacing the use of oil-based synthetic plastics with biodegradable, nontoxic packages. The development of new package products can benefit various industrial activities, particularly the production, distribution and commercialization of foods. Chitosan (CH), a polysaccharide derived from chitin, is a promising biopolymer to be used for this issue, since chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature and can be obtained as a reject of the seafood industry in coastal regions, inland or even associated to shrimp aquaculture production. Besides, the environmental benefits related to the removal of seafood residues and the replacement of petroleum-based-packages, chitosan can be considered an active package material, since its physicochemical properties, such as molecular weight and degree of deacetylation, can confer special activities to chitosan, including antimicrobial activity, which can be very useful in food packing. We present previously unexplored approach based on the use of natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) as potential biodegradable plasticizer. Specifically, we report the use of different NADESs as precursors for the fabrication of transparent chitosan films prepared by compression molding. Film structure was studied with FESEM and the optical, water permeability and mechanical properties were also evaluated. Significant differences were verified in the behavior of the biofilms under the different experimental conditions.

Sarah Montes has done her Degree in Polymer Chemistry and Master in Applied Chemistry and Polymers from the University of The Basque Country. Currently, she is a scientific research at IK4-CIDETEC specialized in the development of polymeric composites/nanocomposites, especially biobased polymers and in the characterization of polymeric materials. She has been the coordinator of the ECLIPSE European Project. She is the author and co-author of 5 scientific papers and 2 patents.

Currently, there is an increasing interest in the development of environmental friendly materials obtained from renewable resources. Poultry industry generates huge amounts of feather waste each year. Chicken feathers have high level of keratin content (up to 90%), a structural fibrous protein, which can become a suitable bio-resource of raw materials. Isolation of keratin protein from chicken feathers can be carried out by using different reducing agents which break down disulphide and hydrogen bonds of the keratin fibres to obtain useful materials. Other authors have combined feathers with reducing agents and plasticizers during melt blending for producing films with poor mechanical properties. In the present work, we show the use of keratin as raw material for the preparation of a fully bio-derived bioplastic by conventional processing techniques such as melt blending. Chicken feathers were processed by this technique together with suitable plasticizers and biobased plastics. The resulting materials were characterized in terms of thermal, viscoelastic and mechanical properties, showing their promising potential of substitution of conventional plastics.

Asma Alhosni is a PhD student at the University of Manchester. She has completed her MSc from Nottingham University in UK. Currently, she is working as a Lecturer at the Higher College of Technology in the Sultanate of Oman.

Over the last six decades, the use of plastic materials has had a major impact on our daily lives and has become essential for modern societies due to their extensive and diverse range of applications. However, the recalcitrant nature of many plastics means that they are problematic in terms of disposal and are a major industrial waste product and environmental pollutant. The use of biodegradable polymers can aid in resolving a number of waste management issues as they are degraded ultimately to CO2 and water and can be directed to conventional industrial composting systems. Four different biodegradable polymers, namely polycaprolactone, polyhydroxybutyrate, polylactic acid and poly(1,4 butylene) succinate were used to study the time required for biodegradation to occur in soil and compost under laboratory conditions. Degradation of polymer discs was measured by monitoring changes in disc weight, thickness and diameter over a period of more than ten months at three different temperatures: 25ºC, 37ºC and 50ºC. Degradation rates varied widely between the polymers and the incubation temperatures. Polycaprolactone showed the fastest degradation rate under all conditions and found to be completely degraded when buried in compost and incubated at 50ºC after 91 days. Fungi from the surface of the polymers discs following colonization were isolated and identified by ITS rDNA sequencing.

Dr Somayeh Mollasalehi has completed her PhD at the University of Manchester and she is working as a researcher at the University of Manchester.

The water soluble biodegradable polymer polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is widely industrially used in textile sizing and paper coating as well a variety of other applications. While some individual microbes and consortia capable of degrading PVA have been identified in the laboratory, there have been few studies that have examined its impact on naturally occurring microbial communities. In this research, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) where used to monitor changes in the fungal community profile in compost and soil at 25°C and 45°C following PVA addition over a six weeks period. In compost, the response to the presence of PVA was complex. At both 25°C and 45°C, in the absence of PVA, the community shifted over 6 weeks, with greatest change noticeable after 2 weeks. In soil at 25°C, the community changed in the presence compared to the absence of PVA with the greatest shift in the community occurring after four weeks before returning to a profile similar to that seen in the absence of PVA after 6 weeks. Overall, this study has shown that PVA causes a significant shift in the fungal community with a number of T-RF’s detected only in the presence of PVA. However, these were minor components of the community and the presence of PVA did not cause a major shift in the dominant species.

Farayde M Fakhouri is a Food Engineer at Universidade Estadual Paulista, and has done her Masters and PhD at the University of Campinas and Postdoctorate in the State University of Londrina in new materials for packaging. She is a Professor at the Federal University of Grande Dourados, Research Collaborator of the Department of Materials Engineering and Bioprocess of FEQ/Unicamp, member of the groups searches LMEI (Unicamp), MFBIOPACK (UFGD) and POLIBIOTEC (UEL), supervisor and founder of the Junior Company (EJIPTA/UFGD). Currently, she is at a postdoctoral program at the Polytechnic University of Catalunia at the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering. Her experience is focused on packaging from renewable sources, thermoplastic extrusion and functional foods.

The trend towards environmental preservation and the need for new sources of raw materials to reduce dependence on oil are a major incentive for the development. The use of edible and biodegradable films obtained from renewable materials, thus reduce the use of petroleum-derived polymers. The babassu (Orbignya sp) is a palm of great socio-economic importance in Brazil, especially in the states of Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins and Mato Grosso. The babassu consists of exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp. The mesocarp is composed of 60% starch. The starch structure resembles the structure of starch found in cereals such as corn. The starch is widely used in the preparation of biodegradable films for its thermoplastic capacity. The starch gelation temperature ranges from 63-73ºC, similar to corn starch, in addition to presenting a considerable amount of amylose. In this context, the objective of this study was to use the flour made from babassu mesocarp to produce biodegradable films by thermoplastic extrusion process. For the process, an extruder brand BGM (EL-25 model, SãoPaulo, Brazil) was used with the processing conditions demonstrated by Farayde (2009). For the preparation of the sample babassu mesocarp flour was used and as a plasticizer, 30% glycerol in relation to the mass of flour. After extrusion, the film was conditioned for 48 hours at 25°C and 50% RH so as to be characterized as to its thickness, permeability to water vapour (PWV) and for its solubility in water and acid. The film extrudate showed a dark coloration through the naked eye and was malleable to the touch and had an average thickness of 0.5353 mm. The babassu film was 100% soluble in acid and approximately 40% soluble in water.

Amanda Dambrós Pereira is currently a graduate student in Food Engineering at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), Project Director at Enterprise Junior UFGD of Food Engineering (EJIPTA) and has received the scholarship of Scientific Initiation by CNPq/UFGD and participant of the research group MFBIOPACK (UFGD). She has experience in the field of Food Science and Technology, with an emphasis on Food Technology, especially in vegetables and edible packaging products and/or biodegradable drawn from different sources of starch. She is trained in Thermoplastic Extrusion.

The growing concern about the disposal of non-renewable materials encourages more and more research in the field of edible and/or biodegradable films. Gelatin is a hydrocolloid widely used in the food industry and in recent decades has been studied as a source of renewable raw material in the preparation of films. The pink peppercorns (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) are known as mastic-false. It is a medium-sized tree, monoecious, composite and aromatic leaves are used in cooking and in French it is called Poivre Rose, a type of sweet pepper, rich in natural antioxidants. Thus, the objective of this work was to work out different formulations films gelatin base by casting technique using pink pepper oil as plasticizer in different concentrations. For the preparation of films, 10 grams of gelatin were hydrated in 100 ml of distilled water. The solution was heated to 70ºC to dissolve the protein. After complete dissolution, 5, 10 and 15% peppermint oil towards the macromolecule concentration was added under constant stirring, the filmogenic solution. The films were dried for 24 hours at 25ºC. The mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation) were measured after 48 hours of conditioning (55% RH). The films were visually transparent, easy detachment of the plates without ruptures in the array. The increased oil concentration caused an increase in thickness and tensile strength of the films, this increased from 34.19 to 50.8 MPa when the oil concentration varied from 5 to 10%. When a 15% pink pepper oil was added to the mixture, it showed no difference compared to 10% addition, the thickness of these films remained on the 0.116 uM range, whereas when 5% oil was added to media thickness was 0.099 micrometers.

Cristina Tostes Filgueiras Graduated in Food Engineering from the Federal University of Viçosa (1992), Master of Agricultural Microbiology, Federal University of Viçosa (1996) and PhD in Food Science from the State University of Londrina (2009). It has experience in the field of Food Science and Technology and is currently Adjunct Professor III of the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD) and Tutor Fellow Tutorial Education Program - PET / Food Engineering.

Collagen is an animal protein, and in the human body its function is to contribute to the structural integrity of the tissue. In the last decades it has been widely used in the food industry and, within this, also in catgut. In this context, the aim of this study was to observe the solubility in water and acid, as well as the barrier properties of pure collagen films and those who have immerse in a bath with antimicrobial agents before use in meat sausages. The films were characterized for thickness, water vapor permeability (PWV) and solubility in water and acid. The use of bath with antimicrobial agents did not cause a change in the thickness of the films (0,122 mm). An increase can be observed when water vapor permeability was observed, films that have passed through the bath had an WVP 35, 73, and the films without the treatment showed a value of permeability of 26,03 g.mm/m2.d.kPa. When solubility in water and acid difference was analyzed, were observed differences between samples. Both exhibit a decrease in value when they pass through the bath showing that the bath influences the solubility of the films. Thus, the use of the bath , although not cause difference in thickness causes an increase in the permeability to water vapor and a decrease in water and acid solubility of the films.