ACCESSIBILITY OF STARCH TO ENZYMATIC DEGRADATION IN INJECTION-MOLDED STARCH-PLASTIC COMPOSITES

Most of the starch in starch-polyethylene-co-acrylic acid (EAA)-polyethylene (PE) composites prepared by injection molding was not accessible to starch-hydrolyzing enzymes. Even when these composites were treated with enzyme in the presence of Triton X-100 for 96 h, little starch hydrolysis was observed. However, when the starch-plastic material was pulverized, both the extent and the rate of starch hydrolysis increased dramatically, with about 70% hydrolysis of the starch within 18 h. Reactions carried out for up to 96 h showed that, while the enzyme was active, the reaction reached a plateau, achieving a total of 80% starch hydrolysis. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed that only starch, and not EAA or PE, was affected by enzyme in pulverized samples. Results indicated that while 80% of the starch in these composites was transiently inaccessible, perhaps due to EAA and PE forming an impermeable barrier to the enzyme, the other 20% remained inaccessible to enzymes. Also, the rate of starch digestion as determined by solubilized reducing sugar correlated with the particle size of the pulverized material, suggesting that a large available surface area is critical for rapid starch degradation in such composites.