Use of starch based biodegradable packaging film can partially reduce the landfilling problem from non-biodegradable petroleum based alternatives. The aim of this work was to optimize raw material blend composition containing corn-starch (CS), and low amount of poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) to produce self-supporting-film (SSF), using response surface methodology. Rotatable central composite design was used to evaluate the effect of CS (6.25-7.50), PVA (0.00-1.25), and GA (0.00-1.25), in g/100 mL of the blend, on tensile strength (TS), percent elongation (%El), and water vapor permeability (WVP) of the film. The most significant (p < 0.01/0.05) factors were: CS and GA for TS, CS and PVA for El, and PVA for WVP. The SSFs were thin, flexible and transparent; the optimum composition (g/100 mL) to maximize TS and El, and minimize WVP was 7.50 (CS), 0.875 (PVA), and 0.125 (GA), which produced SSF showing TS: 11.66 MPa, %El: 8.56, and WVP: 0.13 g mm/m 2 /kPa/h. V C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44436.