Preparation and Characterization of Starch Based Bioplastic Film from Dent Corn

In this research work, dent corn (Zea mays L.) was selected as a raw material in the preparation of bioplastic films. Firstly, the starch powders were prepared from dent corn by washing, cutting, grinding, drying and pulverizing. The physico-chemical properties of prepared starches such as pH, moisture content, ash content, bulk density, gelatinization temperature and protein content were investigated. The elemental compositions of prepared starch were analyzed by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF). Secondly, the bioplastic film was prepared using starch powder, water and glycerol as plasticizer. In this experiment, the effects of amount of starch powder, amount of glycerol and volume of water on the tensile strength of prepared biodegradable plastic films were investigated. The organoleptic, chemical and mechanical properties of prepared plastic films were determined and the solubility test was also carried out. Moreover, the evaluation of biodegradability property was conducted by soil burial method. The functional groups of prepared plastic films were investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR)