Mechanical and thermal properties of soy protein films processed by casting and compression

Soy protein isolate (SPI) based films are environmentally friendly because they are biodegradable and come from renewable sources but they are brittle. Different ratios of plasticizer were incorporated into SPI-based films to improve mechanical properties. Glycerol has a plasticizing effect on the films in the range of 30–40%. Apart from the plasticizer, the processing method employed to prepare films also influenced on the mechanical properties. Films processed by compression showed much better mechanical properties, higher tensile strength and elongation at break, than the ones processed by casting. Analysis of the thermal properties revealed that denaturation temperatures of the two main globulin fractions present in SPI were influenced by the moisture content of the sample but not by the processing method employed.