Developing Edible Starch Film Used for Packaging Seasonings in Instant Noodles

Abstract

Edible starch-based film was developed for packaging seasoning applied in instant noodles. The edible film can quickly dissolve into hot water so that the seasoning bag can mix in the soup of instant noodles during preparation. To meet the specific requirements of the packaging, such as reasonable high tensile properties, ductility under arid conditions, and low gas permeability, hydroxypropyl cornstarch with various edible additives from food-grade ingredients were applied to enhance the functionality of starch film. In this work, xylose was used as a plasticizer, cellulose crystals were used as a reinforcing agent, and laver was used to decrease gas permeability. The microstructures, interface, and compatibility of various components and film performance were investigated using an optical microscope under polarized light, scanning electron microscope, gas permeability, and tensile testing. The relationship was established between processing methodologies, microstructures, and performances. The results showed that the developed starch-based film have a modulus of 960 MPa, tensile strength of 36 Mpa with 14% elongation, and water vapor permeability less than 5.8 g/m2.h under 20% RH condition at room temperature (25 °C), which meets the general requirements of the flavor bag packaging used in instant noodles.

Synergizing Multi-Plasticizers for a Starch-Based Edible Film

“…All the materials used in this work are commercially available in the market. Hydroxypropyl cornstarch (HPCS) (DS 0.4%, moisture content 13 wt%, Mw 130,000) was supplied by Hengrui Starch Company, Luohe, China since it has good mechanical and processing characteristics [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Tianjin Kemeou (A chemical reagent company, Nanjing, China) provided sorbitol (99.8% pure).…”

“…Starch is also a kind of renewable and easily obtained resource. The edible films or coatings made from starch have been developed and widely used in food and medicine industries [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. For example, they have been applied in various food (sweet) wrappers and capsules for medicine [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

“…Similar to other materials, improvement of the performances and reducing cost are the two strategic aims of starch-based materials. Hydroxypropyl-modified cornstarch (HPCS) has good mechanical and processing characteristics [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. A well-recognized weaknesses for starch-based films currently used is the instability of mechanical performances.…”

“…However, the instability of water makes the starch-based materials very brittle after losing water. Glycerol has been widely added into starch-based materials to keep the moisture [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. More recently, the chemicals containing multi-hydroxyl groups have also been developed as plasticizers for starch-based materials, such as sorbitol [ 27 ] and xylose, etc.…”

Preparation and characterization of a biodegradable film from cactus Nopalea sp.

“…The main sources of raw material for biopolymers are organic products of plants or animal origin (Otoni et al, 2017;. These must be able to provide a polymeric network with numerous intermolecular bonds to form a matrix, whether they consist of polysaccharides, proteins, fats, or even a combination thereof (Nandane and Jain, 2018;Ju et al, 2019;Lee et al, 2020;Espino-Manzano et al, 2020;Kumari et al, 2021;Chen et al, 2021). In fruit and vegetable conservation, the use of plant polysaccharides as edible coatings is widespread, especially in starch-based films due to their low acquisition cost, flexibility, and strength (Thakur et al, 2019;Tarique et al, 2021).…”