Publication no. C-2000-1205-06R |  VIEW ARTICLE

Characterization of Extruded Plant Protein and Petroleum-Based Packaging Sheets.

Ersel Obuz (1), Thomas Joseph Herald (2,4), and Kent Rausch (3). (1) Graduate student, Food Science Graduate Prog., Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. (2) Associate professor, Department of Animal Sciences & Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. (3) Assistant professor, Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801. (4) Corresponding author. Fax: 785- 532-56-81. E-mail: <therald@oznet.ksu.edu> Cereal Chem. 78(1):97-100. Accepted October 24, 2000. Copyright 2001 American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc.

Extruded packaging sheets (EPS) were manufactured from wheat gluten (WG) or sorghum flour (SF) in combination with (10, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) low density polyethylene (LDPE) or metallocene-catalyzed ethylene-butene copolymer (MCEBC), and plasticized successfully with sorbitol at a weight ratio of 1:1. Physical analyses were used to characterize the extruded packaging materials. Tensile strengths and elongations of the sheets significantly decreased as the WG or SF increased. Sheets formulated with approximately 1:1:2 wheat gluten, sorbitol, and MCEBC exhibited similar elastic properties compared with a 100% MCEBC sheet. Young's modulus and percent elongation at break values decreased as WG-sorbitol or SF-sorbitol level increased in the EPS.