'Green' crosslinking of native starches with malonic acid and their properties

► 'Green', non-toxic, water based crosslinking of native starches. ► Plant based, sustainable polycarboxylic acid (malonic acid) as crosslinker. ► Confirmation of successful crosslinking of starches using various techniques. ► Potato starch is found to be more reactive than corn starch. ► Higher mechanical properties and decrease in hydrophilicity after crosslinking.