DEVELOPMENT OF BIODEGRADABLE FILM FROM PLEUROTUS SAJOR-CAJU WASTE Essa

DEVELOPMENT OF BIODEGRADABLE FILM FROM PLEUROTUS SAJOR-CAJU WASTE Essa Full Paper DEVELOPMENT OF BIODEGRADABLE FILM FROM PLEUROTUS SAJOR-CAJU WASTE Hazwani Binti Husain, Ahmad Yazid Bin Rahman, Norshazila Binti Senawi, Yamunasri A/P Kuthiah, Syaliyana Binti Khairudin, Thivya A/P Nadarajah Jabatan Agroteknologi dan Bio-industri, Politeknik Nilai, 71760 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan Article history Received 2 July2014 Received in revised form 5 November 2014 Accepted 25 November 2014 *Corresponding author Graphical abstract Abstract The accumulation of waste results in growing concern on the environmental issues all around the world. Enormous researches have been done to convert waste into valuable materials. This research aims to recycle mushroom waste into valuable biofilm. Mushroom waste from Pleurotus sajor-caju harvested from Rumah Cendawan, Politeknik Nilai has been used to develop biofilm which has the potential to be molded into variety of products. A total of 42 formulations have been developed and 14 best formulations have been chosen. The tensile strengths of these 14 biofilms have been tested by using Shimadzu Universal Testing Machine and the biodegradability characteristics of the films have been tested. Variable of positive results observed. In conclusion, biodegradable film from Pleurotus sajor-caju waste can be developed as a better alternative to the existing plastics in the market. Keywords: Pleurotus sajor-caju, waste, biofilm, tensile strength and biodegradable Abstrak Pengumpulan sisa buangan telah meningkatkan kebimbangan tentangi isu-isu alam sekitar di seluruh dunia. Penyelidikan secara besar-besaran telah dilakukan untuk menukar bahan buangan menjadi bahan-bahan berharga. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengitar semula sisa cendawan menjadi biofilem berharga. Sisa buangan cendawan Pleurotus sajor-caju yang dituai dari Rumah Cendawan, Politeknik Nilai telah digunakan untuk membangunkan biofilm yang berpotensi untuk dibentuk menjadi pelbagai produk. Seramai 42 rumusan telah dibangunkan dan 14 formulasi terbaik telah dipilih. Kekuatan tegangan 14 biofilem telah diuji dengan menggunakan Shimadzu Universal Testing Machine dan ciri-ciri biodegredasi filem telah diuji. Kepelbagaian hasil positif diperhatikan. Kesimpulannya , biofilem dari Pleurotus sajor-caju boleh dibangunkan sebagai alternatif yang lebih baik untuk plastik yang sedia ada di pasaran. Kata kunci: Pleurotus sajor-caju, sisa buangan, biofilem, kekuatan tegangan dan terbiodegradasikan 2015 Penerbit UTM Press. All rights reserved 1.0 INTRODUCTION The durability properties which make plastics ideal for many applications can lead to waste disposal problems in the case of traditional petroleum-derived plastics, as these materials are not readily biodegradable. Other than that, petroleum-derived plastics are resistant to microbial degradation thus will accumulate in the environment [1]. For instance, it can take up to one hundred years to degrade only a few grams of plastic (such as polyethylene) under normal environmental conditions. Because plastics cannot be degraded by natural processes in a short period of time, they are left as plastic waste, causing environmental problems [2]. Since last decades, many attempts have been focused on grafting or blending plastic materials with cheap and biodegradable natural biopolymers, such as starch, cellulose and chitin to create new materials with desired properties [3]. In the mushroom industry, a massive amount of the biowaste accumulated during mushroom production and harvesting, mainly consist of stalks and mushrooms of irregular dimensions and shapes. The amount of biowaste obtained can be up to approximately 50,000 metric tons of waste material per year [4]. Wastes left over in the edible mushroom farms can also become free and alternative source of chitin-chitosan materials, beside the traditional industrial source shellfish waste materials. Waste accumulated during mushroom production and harvest consist mainly stalks and mushroom of irregular dimensions and shapes. Waste disposal create environmental problems for producers due to the large volume and volatile degradation products [5]. This research had been done to determine the biodegradability and the tensile strength of biofilm from Pleurotus Sajor-caju waste as a potential plastic replacer. Figure 1: The effects of Force (N) on variety of formulation of biofilms. Figure 2: The biodegradability of various formulations of biofilms. 2.0 EXPERIMENTAL 2.1Materials Rotten mushrooms of Pleurotus sajor caju were obtained from Rumah Cendawan Politeknik Nilai, Negeri Sembilan and all chemicals used in producing the biodegradable film as well as for analytical procedures were of analytical grade or of the highest purity available. Details of chemicals were sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, starch powder and glycerine. 2.2Preparation of Mushroom powder The rotten mushrooms were washed with clean water to remove dirt or other undesirable materials before leave it drying to room temperature. Then the dried mushrooms were ground into powder in a blender then they were sieved and