Scale-up of the production of cassava starch based films using tape-casting

Most research on biodegradable and edible films uses the well-known casting technique, which allows the preparation of films of small dimensions. Besides, cassava starch films prepared by extrusion processes do not have good properties, because of the high shear rates applied. The tape-casting technique allows the spreading of a suspension on large supports, with the control of the thickness by an adjustable blade at the bottom of the spreading device. The drying of the film can be carried-out on the support itself, under controlled conditions. Film-forming suspensions with different formulations were prepared, varying the concentrations of starch (3 and 5 g/100 g of suspension), glycerol (0.20 and 0.25 g/g of starch) and cellulose fibers (0 and 0.30 g/g of starch) and used to produce films by tape-casting. The results showed that tape-casting is a suitable technology to scale-up the production of starch based films. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.