Solutions of food polysaccharide blends for edible films production

Abstract

The study of the rheological properties of aqueous solutions of starch blends with sodium alginate and agar-agar as well as the physico-mechanical properties of bicomponent films on their basis has been carried out. The extreme behavior of polymer blends with low content of one of the polymers is described in terms of mutual solubility or thermodynamic compatibility. There is a tendency of mechanical properties and water solubility increase with the increasing of SA and AA polymers in corn starch matrix. Obtained data evidence the benefits of bicomponent films production instead of starch-based films.