Please cite this article as: Arrieta, M.P., Peltzer, M.A., Garrigós, a.d.C., Jiménez, A., Structure and mechanical properties of sodium and calcium caseinate edible active films with carvacrol, Journal of Food Engineering (2012), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.jfoodeng.2012.09.002 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Abstract: 17Edible active films based on sodium caseinate (SC) and calcium caseinate (CC) 18 plasticized with glycerol (G) at three different concentrations and carvacrol (CRV) as 19 active agent were prepared by solvent casting. Transparent films were obtained and 20 their surfaces were analysed by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy 21 (SEM). The influence of the addition of three different plasticizer concentrations was 22 studied by determining tensile properties, while Fourier transformed infrared 23 spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetic analysis (TGA) were used to evaluate the 24 structural and thermal behaviour of such films. The addition of glycerol resulted in a 25 reduction in the elastic modulus and tensile strength, while some increase in the 26 elongation at break was observed. In general terms, SC films showed flexibility higher 27 than the corresponding CC counterparts. In addition, the presence of carvacrol caused 28 further improvements in ductile properties suggesting the presence of stronger 29 interactions between the protein matrix and glycerol, as it was also observed in thermal 30 degradation studies. FTIR spectra of all films showed the characteristic bands and 31 peaks corresponding to proteins as well as to primary and secondary alcohols. In 32 summary, the best results regarding mechanical and structural properties for 33caseinates-based films containing carvacrol were found for the formulations with high 34 glycerol concentrations. 35 36