Development and Characterization of Bioplastic Film from Salacca zalacca Seed Starch

The world community has given a particular concern to environmental issues such as pollution of the marine environment due to petroleum-based plastic materials. Since petro-based plastics cannot easily be degraded in nature, bioplastics' development is a must. Bioplastics can be made from various renewable feedstocks such as polysaccharides, protein, and fat. Salacca zalacca is one of the starch sources that can be used to manufacture bioplastics. The purpose of this study was to develop and characterize the bioplastic by use of Salacca zalacca starch. The bioplastic films were made by mixing all the raw materials at 70 oC for 40 minutes. The sample was then put into a mold and heating it in the oven at 50 degrees C for 24 hours. The results show that an optimum condition with 4 wt% of PVA occurs at the starch concentration of 1.8 wt% with the tensile strength and the elongation of 20 N and 53%. Moreover, the optimum condition with 15 wt% of PVAc gives the tensile strength of 20 N with lower elongation (15%).