Development and characteristics of biodegradable aloe-gel/egg white films

The use of synthetic nonbiodegradable polymers has led to environmental damage. This has encouraged the interest to the development of new renewable and biodegradable matrices. The potential of egg white (EW) protein for the development of bio-plastic materials has been published. However, the mixture of EW with Aloe-gel (AG) for film formation has not been documented. In this study, films with different EW and AG combinations are manufactured and their properties are analyzed. In general, the AG/EW films are homogeneous, smooth, with no pores and with cumulus of protein on the surface with better extensibility, plasticity, and low tensile strength. In addition, they are yellow colored, UV-light blocker, with high solubility (2.2 times) and high Water Vapor Permeability (4.17 times) compared with the control (EW film). The AG/EW films showed higher percentage of soluble protein and antibacterial activity than the control. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.