Enhancing Mechanical Biodegradable Bioplastic Performance of Taro Starch Composites with Castor Oil, Stearic Acid, and Egg White

Optimizing bioplastics from renewable resources is crucial for addressing global plastic pollution. This is done to address the waste problem that has severely disrupted the environment because it cannot degrade in the soil for hundreds of years. This research, based on taro starch and other polymer materials, is expected to address the impact of plastic waste in the future. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the ratio of bioplastic materials and the type of plasticizer and to determine the best treatment and its characteristics. This taro starch-based bioplastic research was combined with carrageenan and glucomannan at ratios of 25:75 and 50:50 (total material 6 grams) and with 3 types of plasticizers: castor oil, stearic acid, and egg white, each 1 gram. The observed bioplastic variables included mechanical properties, including tensile strength, elongation, and elasticity, as well as biodegradability, and functional group analysis for the best treatment. The results showed that the treatment of bioplastic material ratio and plasticizer type showed an effect on the variables of tensile strength, elongation at break, elongation and did not affect biodegradation. The best bioplastic was formulated with a ratio of taro starch and carrageenan of 25:75 and 1% castor oil with characteristics of tensile strength of 18.33 MPa; elongation of 4.96%, and complete biodegradation in 6 days. Although it did not meet the SNI (Indonesian Standart National) mechanical property standards, this composite showed potential as an environmentally friendly packaging material. Further optimization of plasticizer concentration and crosslinking strategy is recommended to improve its performance.