The Effect of Hydrochloric Acid Solution and Glycerol on The Mechanical, Hydrate Properties and Degradation Rate of Biofilm from Ripe Banana Peels

Putri Ramadhany (Universitas Katolik Parahyangan)
Justin Kenny Hardono (Universitas Katolik Parahyangan)
Maria Gabriela Kristanti (Universitas Katolik Parahyangan)

Jurnal Rekayasa Proses
Vol 15, No 2 (2021)

Banana peel is a biomass waste that has not been utilised optimally, despite its high starch content. Moreover, starch has potential as a raw material for biofilm or edible film production. This research focused on using the starch content from the mature banana peel to create a biofilm. Starch was extracted from the banana peel; then, it was hydrolyzed with a variation of hydrochloric acid solution (HCl) of 0.5 M (0, 2, 4 %-v/v Starch). Glycerol (0, 20, 40 %-w/w starch) was used as a plasticizer. It was found that the formulation of 4%-v/v HCl solution and glycerol 20%-w/w resulted in the highest biofilm’s tensile strength of 4.18 MPa. However, the elongation break percentage achieved the best result at 20,2% when the formulation of 0%-v/v HCl solution and 40%-w/w glycerol was applied. Increasing HCl solution and glycerol was proven to improve the biofilm’s solubility in the water, where 47.9% solubility was attained in the formulation of 40%-w/w glycerol and 4%-v/v HCl solution. The degradation rate of biofilm in the soil was measured using zero- and first-order kinetic rates. The zero-order resulted in the best model with a half-life time (t1/2) between 73 to 108 days.