Effects of bovine gelatin viscosity on gelatin-based edible film mechanical, physical and morphological properties

This study was conducted to determine the effect of gelatin reology on mechanical, physical and morphological properties of gelatin-based edible films. The aim of this study was to better understand the variation of viscosity on the structural behaviour of gelatin-based films in the presence of glycerol and sorbitol plasticizers. Gelatin-based films were casted by using gelatins of different viscosities as 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 centipoise with plasticisers as glycerol and sorbitol. Finally, the physical, mechanical and morphological properties of the films were investigated via pH, thickness, tensile strength and elongation, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. As a result of the study, it was observed that a durable film structure could be obtained with gelatin viscosity at 3 centipoise. Furthermore 5.5% gelatin, 0.1% glycerol and 0.4% sorbitol concentration were found as the most suitable formulation for gelatin based film structure with Tukey Test. The results suggest that gelatin-plastisizer combinations can be an excellent source of biobased packaging material with further investigations.