Relevance of genipin networking on rheological, physical, and mechanical properties of starch-based formulations

Abstract The small amount of proteins in starch-rich food industry byproducts can be an advantage to crosslink with genipin and tailor the performance of biobased films. In this work, genipin was combined with non-purified starch recovered from industrial potato washing slurries and used for films production. Starch recovered from potato washing slurries contained 0.75% protein, 2 times higher than starch directly obtained from potato and 6 times higher than the commercial one. Starch protein-genipin networks were formed with 0.05% and 0.10% genipin, gelatinized at 75 °C and 95 °C in presence of 30% glycerol. Bluish colored films were obtained in all conditions, with the higher surface roughness (Ra,1.22 μm), stretchability (elongation, 31%), and hydrophobicity (water contact angle, 127o) for 0.10% genipin and starch gelatinized at 75 °C. Therefore, starch-rich byproducts, when combined with genipin, are promising for surpassing the starch-based films hydrophilicity and mechanical fragilities while providing light barrier properties.