Mechanical, physical, antimicrobial and feasibility study of PLA-based nano bio-plastic for fruit packaging / Nik Syazwani Nik Ahmad

The emergence of many new food products on the market has led to food spoiling during its shelf life and many food packages being thrown away. Therefore, nano bio-plastic packaging has been introduced in the packaging industry. Nano bio-plastic packaging helps to prolong the shelf-life of products through the use of nanoparticles and essential oil. In addition, nano bio-plastic packaging was made from biodegradable polymers that can be decomposed. Nano bio-plastic films made from polylactic acid (PLA) and nanoclay were produced using a solvent casting method with addition of 1.0%, 3.0% and 5.0% (wt.) nanoclay and a constant volume of lemongrass essential oil were added to the PLA solution. The mechanical, physical, chemical, and antimicrobial properties of the nano bio-plastic films were investigated. To analyses the film samples, tensile testing, FTIR analysis, UV-barrier testing, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed. The feasibility study on the using of nano bio-plastic as fruit packaging was done on red grapes for 14 days.