Arrowroot Starch/Carboxymethylcellulose‐ZnO NP Films: Thermal, Tensile, and Biodegradation Properties

Currently, more effective methods in the area of food preservation have been improved in recent years. In this context, active packaging can be highlighted, which interacts directly with food to increase its shelf life. In this scenario, the present study manufactured nanocomposite films (NC) of arrowroot starch, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in different contents (0%, 0.5%, 2%, and 5% w/w) for bread packaging. The films were obtained using the solvent casting method and evaluated for water vapor permeation, tensile properties, thermal properties, transparency, biodegradation in soil, and application as bread packaging. Our findings demonstrated that the addition of 5% ZnO NPs in thermoplastic arrowroot starch/CMC films (TPA‐CMC/ZnO‐5.0) promoted an increase in tensile strength and modulus from 1.75 to 35.84 and 5.79 to 1142.29 MPa, respectively. After 20 days of soil burial, total degradation was observed in all the films. During 9 weeks of using the films as bread packaging, no macroscopic changes characteristic of colonization by microorganisms were observed. Thus, our findings demonstrate that TPA‐CMC/ZnO‐5.0 films increased the shelf life of the bread and can be used satisfactorily as active packaging for bread.