Filmes nanocompósitos de mesocarpo de babaçu e nanopartículas de óxido de zinco verdes como materiais sustentáveis para embalagem de alimentos

Abstract

The growing demand for sustainable technologies, driven by global environmental preservation initiatives, has directed efforts toward developing biodegradable and compostable materials with potential applications in food packaging. This dissertation is structured into two chapters. The first chapter presents a literature review, in which the main biopolymers derived from polysaccharides widely used in the development of active packaging films were identified. Among them, starch stood out as the most promising biopolymer due to its wide availability from plant sources, excellent film-forming properties, biodegradability, and non-toxicity. The second chapter addresses the experimental study, which investigates babassu coconut mesocarp - a byproduct of the food agroindustry - as a promising raw material for producing polymeric films due to its chemical composition and high starch content. To enhance the functional and bioactive properties of the films, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), synthesized via a green method, were incorporated into the babassu mesocarp matrices to develop new active films for food packaging. The nanocomposite films, produced by the casting method with different ZnO NP concentrations (0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1.0%), were intact, flexible, and homogeneous, with the characteristic yellowish coloration of babassu mesocarp. Due to its superior mechanical performance, higher thermal resistance, and improved water vapor barrier properties, the film containing 0.5% ZnO NPs was selected for antimicrobial assays in food samples. The results suggest that the synergistic effect between babassu mesocarp and ZnO NPs contributed to the enhanced antimicrobial properties of the material, reducing Staphylococcus aureus counts in cooked turkey ham samples stored under refrigeration for seven days. Thus, the films developed in this study demonstrated potential for application as new packaging materials aimed at preserving processed foods.