Composite chitosan-glucan edible films construction

Abstract

Mushrooms are found in Nature in big amounts, but still are not widely used in biotechnology. Mushrooms are known to contain vast amounts of glucans and chitin as known as a natural polysaccharide. Our chosen research object was Gyromitra esculenta and Phallus impidicus mushrooms. They were selected for the following reasons: wide availability, esthetical approach and its uninvestigated properties. Beta glucan has unique rheological properties and can be used as food additive or raw material for edible film production. Also, glucans are notable for having antioxidant, antitumor, immunostimulant, antimicrobial, cardioprotective and hepatoprotective properties. Chitosan is most common natural polysaccharide after cellulose found in nature. This component is nontoxic, biologically compatible, antimicrobial, antifungal and also, edible. These characteristics make it very perspective target for food industry, medicine and biotechnology. The aim of our research was to make chitosan-glucan composite edible films and evaluate their physicochemical properties. By using chemical methods for chitin and sonication method for glucans, these natural polysaccharides were successfully extracted. Chitosanglucan composite edible films were made and analyzed by mixing these ingredients in different amounts and with addition different amounts of glycerol (plasticizer). Optical and mechanical properties of edible films were investigated. The results of the optical properties study showed that the transparency of the films - the green-red (Δa) and the yellow-blue (Δb) shades changed by adding glucans. With glucan concentration decreasing, the edible films were more transparent. In the mechanical properties study, the following film properties were assessed: Young’s modulus, elongation at break point and maximum tensile strength. [...]