Influence of tragacanth gum in egg white based bioplastics: Thermomechanical and water uptake properties

• The presence of tragacanth gum in EW-bioplastics enhances their water uptake.
• A higher content of tragacanth gum results in higher water uptake values.
• Tragacanth gum influences the mechanical properties of EW-bioplastics.

This study aims to extend the range of applications of tragacanth gum by studying its incorporation into bioplastics formulation, exploring the influence that different gum contents (0–20 wt.%) exert over the thermomechanical and water uptake properties of bioplastics based on egg white albumen protein (EW). The effect of plasticizer nature was also evaluated through the modification of the water/glycerol ratio within the plasticizer fraction (fixed at 40 wt.%). The addition of tragacanth gum generally yielded an enhancement of the water uptake capacity, being doubled at the highest content. Conversely, presence of tragacanth gum resulted in a considerable decrease in the bioplastic mechanical properties: both tensile strength and maximum elongation were reduced up to 75% approximately when compared to the gum-free system. Ageing of selected samples was also studied, revealing an important effect of storage time when tragacanth gum is present, possibly due to its hydrophilic character.