Characteristics of crosslinked potato starch and starch-filled linear low-density polyethylene films

Potato starch was crosslinked with 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g epichlorohydrin per 100 g of starch and some physicochemical characteristics of the starch were determined. Starch-filled linear low-density polyethylene cast films were prepared to contain 5 or 10% crosslinked starch. Mechanical properties of these films were measured and compared to those of the films containing native potato starch. Molar degree of crosslinking of the crosslinked starch increased proportionally as epichlorohydrin concentration increased. X-ray diffraction pattern and scanning electron microscopy showed that crosslinking of starch did not affect the crystallinity or granular shape of the starch. The tensile strength, percent elongation and strain energy of the films containing crosslinked starch were generally higher than those of the films containing native starch. Films containing crosslinked starch were whiter in color than native starch films. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.