The chemical, functional and pasting properties of cassava starch and soy protein concentrate blends intended for biofilm processing were studied. Cassava starch and soy protein concentrates were prepared and mixed at different proportions (100: 0%; 90 : 10%; 80 : 20%; 70 : 30%; 60;40% and 50: 50%). Addition of varying levels of soy protein concentrates to cassava starch led to increases in moisture (from 7.10 to 9.17%), protein ( from 0.32 to 79.03%), ash (from 0.45 to 2.67%) and fat (from 0.17 to 0.98%) contents while crude fiber, carbohydrate and amylose contents decreased from ( 1.19 to 0.38%, 90.77 to 57.01% and 29.45 to 23.04%) respectively . Water absorption capacity and swelling power of cassava starch were improved as a result of soy protein concentrate addition while syneresis and solubility value of composite blends were lower than 100% cassava starch. In general, cassava-soy protein concentrate blends formed firmer gels than cassava starch alone. There were significant (p ≤ 0.05) increases in peak viscosity (from 160.12 to 268.32RVU), final viscosity (from 140.41 to 211.08RVU) and pasting temperature (from 71.00 to 72.32 °C ) of cassava starch due to addition of soy protein concentrate. These results suggest that the addition of soy protein concentrate to cassava starch affected the studied functional properties of cassava starch as evidenced by changes such as reduced syneresis, and solubility that are desirable when considering this biopolymer as an edible biofilm.

The effects of sucrose syrup concentration (40-70 g/100-g solution) and temperature (40-90C) on water loss and sucrose uptake by mango mesocarp slices during osmotic dehydration were investigated. The effective diffusivities for mass transfer were determined using the slope method based on the Fickian diffusion model. Water loss and sucrose uptake were proportional to the square root of osmotic contact time, implying that the process is Fickian. The specific mass transfer rate constants and effective diffusivities (D e ), derived from Fick's unsteady-state diffusion equation, increased with temperature and sucrose syrup concentration. D e values for water loss and sucrose uptake, which ranged between 2.59 ¥ 10 -6 to 5.12 ¥ 10 -6 m 2 /h and 1.70 ¥ 10 -6 to 4.14 ¥ 10 -6 m 2 /h, respectively, were related to absolute temperature using an Arrhenius-type relationship. The activation energies, which fell in the range previously reported for diffusion-controlled processes, increased with sucrose syrup concentration and varied from 9.74 to15.16 KJ/mol. 3 Corresponding

The sensory attributes, mechanical, water vapour permeability (WVP) and solubility properties of cassava starch and soy protein concentrate (SPC)-based edible films of varying levels of glycerol were studied. Addition of SPC and glycerol up to 30% and 20%, respectively, reduced stickiness and improved colour and appearance of the films. Tensile strength (TS), elastic modulus (EM) and elongation at break (EAB) of films increased, while film solubility (FS) and WVP decreased with SPC and glycerol up to 50% and 20% level, respectively, ranging from 20.33 to 26.94 MPa (TS), 41.33 to 72.76 MPa (EM), 7.90 to 12.28 MPa (EAB), 15.07 to 31.90% (FS) and 2.62 to 4.13 g H 2 O mm m )2 day kPa (WVP). The TS, EAB and WVP were higher for the biofilms than for low-density polyethylene and cellophane films.

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The effect of temperature and relative humidity on the water vapour permeability (WVP) and mechanical properties of cassava starch and soy protein concentrate (SPC) based edible films containing 20 % glycerol level were studied. Tensile strength and elastic modulus of edible films increased with increase in temperature and decreased with increase in relative humidity, while elongation at break decreased. Water vapour permeability of the films increased (2.6-4.3 g.mm/m(2).day.kPa) with increase in temperature and relative humidity. The temperature dependence of water vapour permeation of cassava starch-soy protein concentrate films followed Arrhenius relationship. Activation energy (Ea) of water vapour permeation of cassava starch-soy protein concentrate edible films ranged from 1.9 to 5.3 kJ/mol (R (2)  ≥ 0.93) and increased with increase in SPC addition. The Ea values were lower for the bio-films than for polyvinylidene chloride, polypropylene and polyethylene which are an indication of low water vapour permeability of the developed biofilms compared to those synthetic films.