Caracterização de féculas nativas e modificadas de inhame e desenvolvimento de biofilmes.

Abstract

Starch is a natural polymer used in various industrial sectors. However, in its native form have restrictions on certain applications, requiring some processing so that the use of this polymer in industry can be wider. Furthermore, the use of natural polymers in the production of biodegradable materials has been an alternative, once the packaging, such as flexible films, produced from synthetic plastics have become an environmental problem because they are not biodegradable. The purpose of the present research is to obtain native and chemically modified starches from different species of yam (Dioscorea alata variety São Tomé and Dioscorea cayennensis variety Da Costa ) to the development of biofilms. The yams were extracted from starch by trituration with NaOH 0.03 eq.L -1 and dried in an air circulating oven. It was determined the extraction yield of native starches, the kinetics of drying at 30, 40 and 50 °C, the physico-chemical and functional properties and the equilibrium moisture at temperatures of 20, 30 and 40 °C for native starches and modified. Using the technique of solvent casting, biofilms with 20 and 30% plasticizer glycerol) were prepared from native and modified starches, and had the physical structure, solubility in water and mechanical properties characterized. The drying process of the yam starch at a temperature of 50 °C was more efficient than the other temperatures. With values for correlation coefficients greater than 99.6%, the equations of Page, Parry and Henderson & Pabis were equivalent as regards the mathematical fit of the drying experimental data both for the native and modified starches. The native and modified starches of yams São Tomé and Da Costa showed high purity (91.0 % starch) with a predominance of granules with ellipsoidal and triangular shapes with sizes ranging from 10.34 to 48.28 μm. The Smith equation provided better description for the experimental data of the isotherms of native and chemically modified starches with average values for the coefficient of determination greater than 95.5 %. Factors such as the glycerol concentration, the variety of yam, starch type and concentration of starch remained a largely significant influence on the properties of starch and, consequently, of biofilms obtained from them. The chemical modification (acid hydrolysis) resulted in a decreased syneresis of modified starches in relation to native. In comparison with native starches, acid modified starches originated less opaque biofilms but more resistant to traction. Increasing the amount of plasticizer (glycerol) in biofilms starch (native and modified) yam was one of the determining factors for the increase in opacity properties, water solubility and elongation, while decreasing tension at break.