Decolorization of a Corn Fiber Arabinoxylan Extract and Formulation of Biodegradable Films for Food Packaging

Abstract

Corn fiber from the corn starch industry is a by-product produced in large quantity that is mainly used in animal feed formulations, though it is still rich in valuable components, such as arabinoxylans, with proven film-forming ability. During arabinoxylans’ recovery under alkaline extraction, a dark-colored biopolymer fraction is obtained. In this work, a purified arabinoxylan extract from corn fiber with an intense brownish color was decolorized using hydrogen peroxide as the decolorizing agent. Biodegradable films prepared by casting the decolorized extract exhibited a light-yellow color, considered more appealing, envisaging their application in food packaging. Films were prepared with glycerol as plasticizer and citric acid as cross-linker. Although the cross-linking reaction was not effective, films presented antioxidant activity, a water vapor permeability similar to that of non-decolorized films, and other polysaccharides’ and mechanical properties that enable their application as packaging materials of low-water-content food products.

Development and Characterisation of Arabinoxylan-Based Composite Films

“…The control film (sample 1, Table 4) was the thinnest and had the most homogeneous thickness. Comparing this sample to the arabinoxylan-based films found in the literature, Weng et al reported a similar result for a film with the same formulation as this work (101 ± 12 µm) [26], while Péroval et al reached a slightly lower value, 90.8 ± 6.6 µm, as their arabinoxylan film had some differences in composition when compared to the control film sample [24]. As stated before, the addition of oil (samples 2 to 5, Table 4) produced films with uneven thicknesses.…”

“…The arabinoxylan films were prepared using the casting method and following the procedure from Weng et al [26] with slight alterations. The purified lyophilised extract was dissolved in distilled water (2% (w/v)) under stirring at 45 • C until complete dissolution.…”

“…The films' water vapour permeability (WVP) was determined gravimetrically based on the method used by Weng et al [26] with slight modifications. Film triplicates were cut into circular samples and sealed with aluminium tape on top of cylindrical glass cups with 9 mL saturated solution of sodium chloride (a w = 0.753).…”

“…In a first work, an arabinoxylan fraction extracted from corn fibre using alkaline hydrolysis was purified [23] and used to develop biodegradable films [26]. The aim of the present study is to go further on the development of emulsion-based (with oleic acid) and multilayer (with beeswax) films.…”

Facile preparation of MIL-88B-Fe metal–organic framework with high peroxidase-like activity for colorimetric detection of hydrogen peroxide in milk and beer

“…Especially in food industry, it is mainly used for the disinfection of food packaging and food such as dairy products [3]. In addition, it can also decolorize the food fibres [4]. In the current dairy industry, the aseptic packaging of yogurt and pure milk must use food-grade hydrogen peroxide in the disinfection process to achieve this, which has largely promoted the vigorous development of food-grade hydrogen peroxide, and its application is becoming more and more widespread [5].…”