Cold plasma is an innovative strategy to strengthen the polysaccharide-based films characteristics. This study evaluated the effects of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma on the hydrophilic character, water vapor permeability (WVP), and tensile properties of corn starch-based films. Starch films were exposed to plasma processing operating at an excitation frequency of 200 Hz for 10, 15, and 20 min. DBD plasma resulted in further enhanced tensile strength and stiffness, and lower hydrophilicity and water solubility; however, it did not present significant effects on the WVP of the resulting films within the ranges studied. Higher hydrophobicity, strength, and stiffness were verified after 20 min. The results presented in this work suggest that the DBD plasma has the potential to make starch-based films a more suitable packaging material.
Keywords: Biopolymers; Cold plasma; Food packaging; Nonthermal technologies; Starch.
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