Enhancing Biodegradability and Functionality of Packaging Films: A Statistical Approach of Sago Starch Nanocomposite

The attractive factors of starch as a packaging material are its low price and degradable properties. However, brittleness hindered the starch from functioning well as a packaging film. Researchers have done a few studies about numerous types of starch but have had no reports on sago starch (SS). The incorporation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and chitosan nanofillers (CSN) into SS formulations was aimed at improving mechanical properties. Synthesis of packaging film was then formulated by Design Expert 13.0 with three independent variables, which were compositions of sago starch (SS), chitosan nanoparticles (CSN), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) at 100 wt % of solution basis. Seventeen experimental designs produced the probability error of tensile strength and swelling index at p < 0.05. The ANOVA shows that both responses give the p-value at 0.0177 and 0.0106, respectively. This has confirmed that the optimization of film formulation has been achieved accordingly.