As the increasing awareness of environmental protection, the interest in the development of biodegradable materials has become increasingly popular. At present, wheat gluten protein (WGP), soybean protein isolate (SPI) and Zein have made some progress in the application of packaging materials. At the same time, beeswax (BW) is widely applied in the preparation of food coatings. In this study, composite films were prepared by adding BW to three different types of proteins. Various properties of the composite film, such as thickness, color, mechanical properties and thermal stability were tested. Our results suggested that the addition of BW significantly increased the thickness of the film. Regarding to mechanical properties, the tensile strength of all the composite films with BW were significantly decreased. The results of SEM indicated that the surface morphology of the composite films changed due to the interaction between BW and protein molecules. Besides, the addition of BW resulted in a decrease of thermal stability. The Td of the Zein film (77 ℃) and WGP film (106 ℃) were decreased to 72 ℃ and 98 ℃, respectively. The study shows that the composite films will have the opportunity to be applied in the food package field in the future and further replace the traditional petroleum-based films.

Plant protein films are a research hotpot in the current food packaging field for their renewable and bio-compatibility, and further improving the physicochemical properties of plant protein films in combination with biodegradable materials is of great significance. In this study, we selected cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) to modify the protein films with soybean protein isolate (SPI), wheat gluten protein (WGP), and Zein, and the physicochemical properties were studied. The results showed that the hardness and opacity of Zein-based films decreased by 16.61% and 54.12% with the incorporation of CNC, respectively. The SPI-based films performed with lower hardness and higher tensile strength. The thickness and opacity of WGP-based films increased by 39.76% and 214.38% after combination with CNC, respectively. Accordingly, this study showed that CNC could largely modify the physicochemical properties of the plant protein films, which provided a reference for the preparation of modified plant protein films using biodegradable materials.

As the increasing awareness of environmental protection, the interest in the development of biodegradable materials has become increasingly popular. At present, wheat gluten protein (WGP), soybean protein isolate (SPI) and Zein have made some progress in the application of packaging materials. At the same time, beeswax (BW) is widely applied in the preparation of food coatings. In this study, composite lms were prepared by adding BW to three different types of proteins. Various properties of the composite lm, such as thickness, color, mechanical properties and thermal stability were tested.Our results suggested that the addition of BW signi cantly increased the thickness of the lm. Regarding to mechanical properties, the tensile strength of all the composite lms with BW were signi cantly decreased. The results of SEM indicated that the surface morphology of the composite lms changed due to the interaction between BW and protein molecules. Besides, the addition of BW resulted in a decrease of thermal stability. The T d of the Zein lm (77 ℃) and WGP lm (106 ℃) were decreased to 72 ℃ and 98 ℃, respectively. The study shows that the composite lms will have the opportunity to be applied in the food package eld in the future and further replace the traditional petroleum-based lms.

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