Vol. 13, Issue 2 (2024)

Author(s):
Divya Singh Chauhan, Apoorva Behari Lal, Dhruv Thakur, Khushi Singh and Pranav Vashisht

Abstract:
With the increase environmental concerns of plastic material, the food industries are adopting the sustainable food holding and packaging solutions. Biodegradable cutleries have arisen as an environmentally friendly solution gaining significant attention due to their degradability, biocompatibility, and biological safety. This study aimed to develop biodegradable cutlery using sweet line peel powder and coconut coir. Steps include ingredient and process optimization followed by evaluation of water holding and absorption capacity, solubility, and biodegradability of developed cutlery. Results revealed that the developed cutlery had significantly increasing (p<0.05) water absorption rate with time, reaching 100% after 45 min. Furthermore, the water holding capacity also exhibited significant (p<0.05) increase with varying water temperature, ranging between 10±0.6 and 25±0.5 to min, within temperature span of 25-100 ℃. The solubility was 31±1.23% after 30 min. of water immersion. Notably, biodegradability results demonstrated that the cutlery achieved complete biodegradation in 30 days. The versatility of the developed cutlery extends to serving both hot and cold liquid meals, showcasing its potential sustainable applications in the food industry.