Valorization of food-grade industrial waste in the obtaining active biodegradable films for packaging

• Blueberry fiber added to film formulas caused changes in the structure of the film.
• The films with fiber or extract, exhibited thermal stability similar to the control.
• The films exhibited antioxidant effects against sunflower oil oxidation.

The use of industrial waste as a material for the development of biodegradable and active packaging is economical and environmentally appealing. The aim of this study was to develop and characterize biodegradable and antioxidant packaging using wastes from the production of gelatin capsules and ingredients obtained from waste of juice blueberry processing. Fiber and ethanolic extract, obtained from the blueberry waste, were used at different weights in film formulation based on gelatin capsules waste: FF series with fiber concentration of 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 g/mL; FE series with 30, 40 and 50 mL extract; and a control formulation. The morphological, mechanical, barrier, optical, thermal and antioxidant (AA) properties of the films were analyzed. The results suggest that the addition of fiber promoted a decrease in tensile strength from 2.51 (control formulation) to 1.51 MPa (0.15 g fiber/mL) and an increase in water vapor permeability from 59 (control formulation) to 99 (0.15 g fiber/mL) h g mm/m2 kPa. However, the addition of fiber also provided a significant increase in the UV light barrier at 500 nm (+0.16%) in AA films (+67.36%) and was effective in reducing lipid oxidation of sunflower oil. Films with added extract did not exhibit altered mechanical or barrier properties compared with the control formulation and were effective as a barrier to UV light. Furthermore, these films exhibited very stable antioxidant capacity for 28 days. The use of gelatin capsules and blueberry juice processing waste are promising for the development of environmental friendly packaging to be used in food preservation.

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