Physico-chemical and microstructural properties of fish gelatin/agar bio-based blend films

This study was conducted with the aim of improving the physico-chemical properties of fish gelatin (FG) based films. For this purpose, FG was blended with agar (AG) in different compositions to acquire biodegradable films (100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 50:50 & 0:100, FG:AG). The obtained results showed that the AG addition strongly increased the film rigidity and resistance to fracture, while reducing the film stretchability, mainly at 50FG: 50AG ratio. AG incorporation greatly reduced the water vapor permeability (WVP) and solubility of gelatin films, as this decline for the blend film with a 50:50 ratio of biopolymers has been about 41% and 66%, respectively (p < 0.05). Additional advantages of AG inclusion to FG films are the reduction of the UV-transmittance. Both polymers showed good compatibility, as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images. Therefore, the blend composition influenced the properties of FG/AG bio-based films.