Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose nanocomposites containing nano fibrillated cellulose (NFC) from Agave americana L. for food packaging applications

Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) is popularly known as a hydrocolloid for potential use as a biopolymer film. The films of HPMC exhibit brittleness, lacking flexibility, but they can provide a gas barrier. With the aim of improving the HPMC film properties, nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) from the succulent plant Agave americana L was incorporated as reinforcement material using the solution casting method. The films were prepared with three different amounts of NFC with glycerol as a plasticizer. The incorporation of the NFC into the nanocomposite films showed a 1,000-fold reduction in the gas permeability. However, significant improvements in the tensile strength (TS), the elongation at break (EAB), and Young’s modulus (YM) were only observed with 1% NFC. A higher moisture content (24.5%) and a higher solubility (59.5%) were observed in the HPMC/NFC-1 film, which also exhibited the best biodegradability loss of the films that were observed with a 92.8% degradation rate in 15 d of soil burial studies. Therefore, the results evidence that the HPMC/NFC films might be potentially suitable as food wrap packaging on perishable produce of fruits and vegetables to maintain their quality attributes and prolong the storage life.