Green Production of Black Pepper Leaves Extract Doped <scp>PVA</scp> /Guar Gum Blend Films for Promising Sustainable Food Packaging Applications

ABSTRACT This study aims to prepare black pepper leaf extract (BPL)‐doped poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and Guar gum (GG) (PGBPL) blend films via solvent casting technique for active food packaging applications. The prepared blend films were subjected to structural, thermal, morphological, and surface studies using various characterization techniques, including FTIR‐ATR, XRD, TGA, AFM, and WCA. The interaction among the PVA, GG, and BPL was confirmed by FTIR analysis. Adding BPL to the PVA/GG films increased the water contact angle from 66.47° to 89.52°, resulting in amorphous, thermally stable, and hydrophilic blend films. Mechanical testing showed a significant rise in elongation at break from 249.78% to 394.32%, indicating greater flexibility, while the tensile strength and Young's modulus decreased from 21.7 to 7.86 MPa and 24.48 to 23.65 MPa. The results of swelling and chemical resistance demonstrated better barrier qualities than those of clean PVA films. Importantly, migration values confirmed food compatibility and remained well below regulatory limits. The migratory values recorded for the films were lower than the overall migration limit of 10 mg/dm 2 . These findings indicate that PVA/GG/BPL films are promising for biodegradable food packaging and could also have future applications in wound healing.