Bioplastic production from Eichhornia crassipes and Rhodophyta spp: Efficacy assessment for sustainable packaging approaches

The work focuses on the preparation of bioplastics from two sources of renewable material Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) and Rhodophyta spp. (red algae) incorporated with selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) to improve the performance of these bioplastics in sustainable food packaging systems. Reference biomolecules from water hyacinth and red algae with SeNPs were involved to enhance antimicrobial, mechanical, and biodegradability characteristics of the bio-based plastic films. The films were characterized through water absorption, and water solubility test, and further through the soil burial test to reveal the films biodegradability and mechanical properties with 13.724% and 16.22% for water solubility% for WHE and RE respectively while biodegradability is expressed as water loss% 11.39% and 13.18% respectively for WHE and RE. Results showed that the bioplastic derived from the water hyacinth extract had improved mechanical durability but the red algae had marked enhancements in biodegradability. Furthermore, the application of SeNPs resulted in an even greater increase in antimicrobial efficacy against Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus that are common pathogens indicating food spoilage where MIC is calculated to. The be the best for both type of bacteria as 30 &27.5 μg/ml respectively for WHE and 25&17.5 μg/ml respectively for RE. The incorporation of SeNPs was also confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) to understand the molecular forces that influence the property of the final material. The research backs the development of these bioplastics as environmentally-friendly products for food containment with a view of diminishing consumption of normal plastics.