Sustainable Production and In vitro Biodegradability of Edible Films from Yellow Passion Fruit Coproducts via Continuous Casting

Edible films made up of yellow passion fruit (YPF) rind and pectin as a matrix-forming agent are proposed as a means of valorizing passion fruit processing wastes. YPF films were produced at pilot-scale using continuous casting from aqueous formulations covering pectin/rind and water/pulp mass ratios of 100/0–0/100. YPF films were successfully obtained with systematic, tunable yellowish coloration and were achieved at an optimal temperature of 120 °C, leading to a drying time of 7 min and productivity of 0.03 m 2 film min –1 . YPF pulp is found to plasticize the pectin matrix of the films and thus can replace glycerol or other synthetic plasticizers. Films with the largest rind content (50 wt %) showed mechanical strength comparable to that of PVC cling film (9 vs 5 MPa). The biodegradable, renewable character of YPF films was demonstrated upon exposure to Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus,, and Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, a nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacterium.