A circular economical application of eggshell waste as a bio-filler in the fabrication of gum Arabic composite film

Abstract

The poultry industry faces disposal difficulty in waste, but recent advancements in material science and sustainability have enabled the innovative transformation of waste into valuable resources. In this study, eggshell (EC) was added as a bio-filler to gum Arabic (GA) to fabricate a GA-EC bio-composite film. Bio-composites containing 0.5 g (GA-EC0.5) and 1.0 g (GA-EC1.0) EC dispersed in 30 mL of 15% GA solution were fabricated and characterized using standard analytical techniques. The GA-EC0.5 composites showed significantly higher moisture content, transparency, water solubility, and water vapor permeability but lower tensile strength and thermal stability than GA-EC1.0. Following a post-harvest wrapping of tomato fruits with the GA-EC composite films and storage at 25±2°C for 20 days, significant (p>0.05) reductions in weight loss, pH, lycopene content, and activities of polyphenol oxidase and pectin methylesterase compared to unwrapped fruits were recorded. Adding EC to GA has enabled the fabrication of composite films with improved mechanical, barrier, and thermal properties with potential application in the post-harvest storage of tomato fruits.