International Journal of Engineering Advanced Research (IJEAR) eISSN: 2710-7167 [Vol. 3 No. 1 March 2021]
Journal website: http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijear
A REVIEW ON POTENTIAL OF ALGAE IN PRODUCING BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC
Nur Aizatul Hidayah Abdul Kadar1, Nur Syafiqah Rahim2*, Rizana Yusof3, Nor Atikah Husna Ahmad Nasir4 and Huzaifah A Hamid5
1 2 3 4 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Arau, MALAYSIA
5 Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Arau, MALAYSIA
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Article Information:
Article history:
Received date : 30 January 2021 Revised date : 23 February 2021 Accepted date : 28 February 2021 Published date : 1 March 2021
To cite this document:
Abdul Kadar, N., Rahim, N., Yusof, R., Ahmad Nasir, N., & A Hamid, H.
(2021). A REVIEW ON POTENTIAL OF ALGAE IN PRODUCING BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC.
International Journal Of Engineering Advanced Research, 3(1), 13-26.
Abstract: The abundant use of synthetic plastic causes accumulation and threatens marine and terrestrial life.
Plastics take many years to degrade, thus this characteristic leads to the study of producing biodegradable plastic which can decompose faster than synthetic plastic. Since polysaccharides in the algae such as cellulose, alginate and carrageen have the ability to produce biodegradable plastic, this paper discusses the ability of green, brown and red algae in producing biodegradable plastic. The potential of polysaccharides composition in each alga as a good source of bioplastic was also reviewed. It was found that agar, kappa- carrageenan, alginate and cellulose found in red, brown and green algae have the ability to produce biodegradable plastic due to their promising properties such as able to form strong and rigid gel, are water insoluble and have high resistance to water. Additionally, xylans, ulvans, mannitol, floridean starch and porphyran may have the potential to become the next resources for biodegradable plastic production, however more studies are needed to understand their mechanisms.
Keywords: biodegradable plastic, polysaccharides, algae.
1. Introduction
Vigorous production of plastic leads to various problems to the living things such as human, marine, terrestrial animals and the environment. Study by Geyer, Jambeck, and Law (2017) showed that all synthetic plastics are not degradable and this leads to the accumulation of waste in the landfills and environment. Hence, to solve this issue, various researches had been conducted to produce biodegradable plastic from green, brown and red algae since they have the ability to decompose in a short time (Puppala et al., 2012). Maniglia et al. (2019) mentioned that starch, protein, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin in the algae can be used to develop edible film and composites. Since they are renewable biomass resources and polymers which are made up of sugars that contain carbon, they may be used to create perishable and prime-quality bioplastic. The production of biodegradable plastic is able to minimize pollution as it can decompose faster. It is also able to reduce the expenditure on eliminating the mismanaged plastic waste and thus can save the Earth.
1.1 Problem Statement
In developing countries including Malaysia, the huge production of plastics and improper management of plastic waste remain incessant. These non-degradable items often end up as litter in landfills and sea which negatively affects the living things. Petroleum is the major component used in making plastic. Since plastic is being used in many sectors and application, its production keeps on increasing and this leads to the depletion of petroleum, which is a non-renewable resource that cannot readily be replaced in a short time. In addition, other than global warming this petroleum-based plastic also takes longer time to be decomposed, leading to plastic accumulation.
It threatens the marine and terrestrial life which might later cause the extinction of endangered species. Therefore, it is important to find an alternative plastic in combating this issue, for example by using algae. However, not much review on the composition of algae in producing biodegradable plastic have been discussed. Hence, this review paper will thoroughly discuss the composition in algae in relation to producing biodegradable plastic.
2. Literature Review
Biodegradable plastics are synthesized from any renewable resources such as plant, bacterial and algae (Puppala et al., 2012). They are also referred as polymeric materials that are capable of undergoing decomposition into carbon dioxide, methane, water, inorganic compounds or biomass in which enzymatic action of microorganism is the main mechanism. A study by Nurhajati et al., (2019) showed that biodegradable plastic can be measured by standardized tests in a specified period of time, reflecting available disposal condition. Other than that, this type of plastic can be decomposed by living microorganism such as bacteria, fungi and other decomposer without releasing pollutants to the environment (Puppala et al., 2012). Production of biodegradable plastic has been explored using various types of raw materials. Renewable resources like vegetable oil and corn, wheat, corn and sweet potato had contributed to the development of biodegradable plastic starch (Gade, Tulasi, & Bhai, 2013; Maheshwari and Ahilandeswari, 2009). This is due to the nutrient composition presents in polysaccharides, protein and lipids (Praseptiangga et al., 2018). The criteria of being inexpensive, abundantly available, biocompatible and environmentally friendly placed the polysaccharides among the most promising edible and degradable polymer
Polysaccharides are made up of several monosaccharides joined together by glycosidic bonds (Venugopal, 2019). They can be found in plant, fungal and bacteria that function as energy storage and structural support (Brigham, 2017). Polysaccharides are highly potential to be developed as a good biodegradable plastic (Praseptiangga et al., 2018). They also display a wide range of solubility which are water insoluble (cellulose); hot water soluble (starch) and some are readily dissolved in cold water (pullulan and gum Arabic)” (Guo et al., 2017). However, some polysaccharides have strong hydrophilic nature than the synthetic plastic which may cause early rupture (Wahab & Razak, 2016). The low moisture barrier properties also cause a problem during food packaging (Lavorgna et al., 2010).
2.1 Biodegradable Plastic from Polysaccharide
There are numerous studies on extracting starch from plants to develop plastics such as those conducted by Marichelvam et al., (2019), Maulida et al., (2016) and Sujuthi and Liew (2016).
However, the starch-based plastic is expensive and easily breaks down under wet condition (Ali, 2010). Nurhajati et al., (2019) found that starch from cassava which consists of amylose and amylopectin caused the plastic to be more brittle due to its numerous branches of chemical structure. Bioplastic with high amylopectin content also showed low mechanical properties (Tanetrungroj & Prachayawarakorn, 2018). Other than starch, cellulose has also been used widely to produce biodegradable plastic. Sudharsan et al., (2016) reported that cellulose has higher resistance to water and microwave heating. Generally, a film made from only one type of natural film-forming possesses both positive and negative properties. Therefore, the combination of two polymer components will help to produce desired characteristic with widen application (Abdul Khalil et al., 2017). This is supported by Vroman and Tighzert (2009) who stated that polymers modification with plasticizer or filler is able to improve the mechanical properties of biodegradable plastic. Isroi et al., (2017) have successfully conducted a research producing bioplastic sheet by extracting cellulose from empty fruit bunch with the addition of glycerol and cassava starch as plasticizer and matrix, respectively. In addition, a study by Stepan (2013) found that xylan, the largest group of hemicellulose on Earth has the potential in coating, binding and packaging, has good oxygen barriers and can be made thermoplastic by undergoing full acetylation.
Unfortunately, as a raw material, xylan is high in price due to the lack of extraction methods.
Therefore, the interest in xylan is slightly lower compared to cellulose. To improve both mechanical and physical properties of biodegradable plastics, few efforts had been made such as filling or reinforcing them by using nanoclay, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, cellulose fibres, and metal oxides (Suryanto et al., 2019).
2.2 Seaweed as a Potential Source of Biodegradable Plastic
Seaweed is popular in Malaysia and other Asian countries especially China, Japan and Korea where most people consume it as daily food. This is due to the high level of carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and iodine content that are found in seaweed (Abdul Khalil et al., 2017;
Macartain et al., 2007).
Recently, numerous studies in producing biodegradable plastic had been conducted on various renewable resources including algae, either macro-algae or micro-algae. The wide production of biodegradable plastics is due to its characteristics; biocompatibility, bio absorbability, biodegradability and nontoxicity (Parveen et al., 2019). For example, carrageenan from red algae such as Kappaphycus alvarezii has the ability to form gels and membranes with better mechanical properties (Suryanto et al., 2019). Not only that, it can also reproduce excessively at one time and able to grow in a wide range of environment which make them easy to be obtained. Hence, their presence not only gives a positive impact to ecological system but also contributes to the economic growth especially to Asian countries which produce and export a lot of seaweeds. In Malaysia, the state that produces the largest amount of seaweed is Sabah with an area of 9,836 acres (as on 2018) and the productivity increased from 2.09 tons in 2013, 2.46 tons in 2014 and later to 3.24 tons in 2015 (“Seaweed cluster projects in Sabah”, 2019). Seaweeds can be divided into three groups based on their pigmentation; brown algae, red algae and green algae (Asmida, Akmal, Ahmad, &
Diyana, 2017). Biodegradable polymers like polysaccharides that lie in each alga contribute to the development of biodegradable plastic. The most important polysaccharides are alginate, agar, agarose and carrageenan (Venkatesan et al., 2017). previous study by Ali (2010) found that protein from sea algae can be modified with starch and sodium disulfite (SDS) to produce a bioplastic with higher quality. The addition of starch shows a high performance, almost like that of a plastic.
2.2.1 Green Algae
Green algae (Chlorophyta) are known as ‘green’ due to the ability of their pigments; chlorophyll a and b to absorb more red and blue wavelengths than green which therefore reflected as green colour (Figure 2). There are five main pigments of green algae; lutein, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin, neoxanthin and β-carotene as mentioned in Overland et al., (2019). They have the highest carbohydrate composition which causes them to be used as a source of polysaccharides (El-Said
& El-Sikaily, 2013) such as cellulose, sulphated galactans, sulphuric acid polysaccharides and xylans (Abdul Khalil et al., 2017).
Cellulose is a homopolymer of glucose in which the monomers are joined by β-1,4 linkages and is generally synthesized by plants and some bacteria (Brigham, 2017). Cellulose is the most abundant biomaterial on Earth. Extracting cellulose from green algae for production of biodegradable plastic is still lacking. This is because most cellulose is commonly extracted from other renewable resources such as empty fruit bunch and soft wood trees. Cellulose needs some modification since it does not have any plasticity features and is usually used as reinforcement material to make a biodegradable or edible plastic. The success of cellulose for film-making material is due to its capability to form hydrocolloids in suitable solvent system. The addition of cellulose and/or its derivatives into a polymeric matrix can increase the tensile strength and rigidity of the film.
Previous studies by Abdul Khalil et al., (2017) showed that the mixture of cellulose with other polysaccharides can form a homogenous bio-composite film. The reinforcement of cellulose derivatives such as microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) with starch is able to improve the mechanical properties, stiffness, thermal stability and resistance to humidity.
Sulphated polysaccharides are divided into two; sulphated (fucoidan, agar, carrageenan and ulvan) and non-sulphated polysaccharides (alginate). Sulphated galactans are mostly found in red algae but they can also be found in green algae such as Codium, Caulerpa and Ulva species (Jiao et al., 2011). Jiao et al., (2011) reported that the structure of sulphated galactans from green algae is more complex and heterogenous compared to red algae, which makes the specific structural features in the compounds difficult to be identified. An example of sulphated galactans that can be found in green algae is ulvan. It has high level of charged sulphated polyelectrolytes, and is mainly composed of rhamnose, xylose, iduronic and glucuronic acid as the main carbohydrate constituents (Sanjeewa et al., 2018). Usman et al., (2017) reported, ulvans are very viscous and have unique gelling mechanism among the other hydrogel polysaccharides. The gelling properties of ulvans are affected by pH, divalent cations, and boric acid. These gelling properties might make ulvans a potential gelling agent for films production as it can increase the physiochemical properties such as mechanical strength and thermal stability (Kim & Netravali, 2012). These properties are very crucial in making sure the plastic is able to withstand the stress and also to resist breaking down under heat stress during plastic production. Other than that, ulvans are also thermoreversible where substance in gel form when being cooled down can turning back into viscous fluid when exposed to heat without the presence of thermal hysteresis. However, its mechanism is quite complex and is not yet completely understood. Even though ulvans have the potential to form biodegradable plastic, unfortunately, there is no study can be found on production of biodegradable plastic from ulvans where they are only widely used in biomedical application.
Starch or polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from green microalgae such as Calothrix syctonemicola and Scenedesmus almeriensis are commonly extracted to produce biodegradable plastic. This is because starch is inexpensive and easily to obtained, while PHAs have important properties which are water insoluble, high resistance to moisture and UV light, hydrolatic degradation, and low oxygen permeability (Johnsson & Steuer, 2018).
The last type of polysaccharides is xylan. Xylan can be found in the cell wall of both green algae and red algae. The molecular structure of xylans are 1,4-β-D-xylans which is similar to that of land plants, such as hardwood and softwood trees (Hsieh, 2019). Stepan (2013) reported that xylan, the largest group of hemicellulose on the earth has the potential in coatings, binding and packaging, also good in oxygen barriers and can be made as thermoplastic by undergoing full acetylation.
However, xylans have not been well characterised. As mentioned before, there were studies producing biodegradable plastic from xylans (Stepan, 2013). Unfortunately, its application had low value due to the high cost.
Among all the polysaccharides present in the green algae, cellulose was found to be the most suitable polysaccharides that can be used in developing biodegradable plastic. This is due to the properties of cellulose that capable of forming hydrocolloids in a suitable solvent system, able to exhibits excellent mechanical performance, inexpensive, degradable and renewable. Meanwhile, ulvans and xylans would be a good resource if there are more study conducted on its chemical structure and method of extraction which is less costly, respectively.
2.2.2 Brown Algae
Brown seaweeds or also referred as Phaeophyceae are usually comes in yellowish-brown colour (Figure 3) due to the presence of chlorophyll and carotenoids, as well as the brown pigment from the group of xanthophylls-fucoxanthine (Chadova et al., 2016). They have been used commercially due to the alginate that lies in the cell walls which acts as thickening agent, gelling agent and colloidal stabilizer. Alginate, cellulose, fucoidan, laminarin, mannitol and sargassan are the natural polysaccharides that can be found in brown algae. An Example of brown algae is Laminaria digitata.
Commonly, alginates (also known as alginic acid) are extracted to develop a biodegradable plastic especially in food application. Alginates are salts of alginic acid that are isolated from brown algae and have the most abundant polysaccharides in brown algae with 40% in dry weight (Abdul Khalil et al., 2017). Paula et al., (2015) stated that alginate is a linear copolymer of D-mannuronic and L- guluronic acid monomers. Lim et al., (2018) stated that one of the most important characteristics of alginate is the formation of water-insoluble gels in the presence of multivalent cations such as calcium ions (Ca2+). The water insoluble property is attributed to the strong cross-linking interaction between the C=O groups of guluronic acid with Ca2+, resulting in a three-dimensional gel-like conformation. There are few procedures in making a film from alginate; firstly, the water was evaporated from the alginate gel or by drying the alginate solution. Next, the crosslinking was induced by treating it with a calcium salt solution (Cazón et al., 2017). A study by Lim et al., (2018) found that alginate was extracted from Sargassum siliquosum and combined with sago starch, sorbitol and calcium chloride. The results on tensile strength, elongation at break, water barrier properties and percentage of water solubility of film showed the percentage error between predicted and experimental values were not greater than 3.21%. This makes Sargassum siliquosum the most suitable candidate for the production of biodegradable plastic based on its yield and molecular weight. Instead of extracting the alginate, a study by Siah et al., (2015) used the brown algae (Kappaphycus alvarezii) directly in producing edible film. In this study, the physical and mechanical tests were performed on the edible films to examine the thickness, colour, transparency, solubility, tensile strength, elongation at break, water permeability rate, oxygen permeability rate and also surface morphology. As a result, a film with transparent, stretchable, sealable and have basic properties as a film for food packaging was successfully developed. By using this method, the cost was reduced and the preparation became much easier and faster.
Therefore, alginates were found to be the most suitable candidate for the synthesis of biodegradable plastic. However, even though alginates are the most investigated polysaccharides for film making material, they exhibit poor water resistance due to their hydrophilic nature (also as in green and red algae). In order to overcome this situation, nanoparticles such as clay and silver nanoparticles were added into the alginate matrix to increase the properties of mechanical strength and water vapor barriers (Abdul Khalil et al., 2017).
In the cell wall of brown algae, fucoidan or fucans (another sulphated polysaccharides) has a cross- linkage with alginate and cellulose. The chemical composition can be simple but most fucoidans have a complex composition. The structure of fucoidan is different between algae species (Jiao et al., 2011) since they have distinct traits. Generally, “fucoidans consist of a backbone of α(1→3)- L-fucopyranose residues or of alternating α(1→3) and α(1→4)-linked L-fucopyranosyls, which in either case may be substituted with sulfate or acetate and/or have side branches containing fucopyranoses or other glycosyl units” (Ale & Meyer, 2013). Fucoidans are commonly used in pharmaceutical industry since they have many biological properties such as anticoagulant, antioxidant, antiviral and anti-inflammatory (Venugopal, 2019).
Another type of polysaccharides that can only be found in brown algae is laminarin. Laminarin (also called as laminaran) is a water-soluble polysaccharide with backbone of (1–3)-β-d-glucan and β-(1–6) branching of different reducing endings that can have either mannitol or glucose residues (Mišurcová et al., 2012). Contrary to agar, alginate and carrageenan, laminarin does not display thickening and gelation properties or form any viscous solution. Hence, the application of it only can be found in medical and pharmaceutical uses (Kraan, 2012).
The next polysaccharide is mannitol. According to Kraan (2012), mannitol has extremely diverse application such as pharmaceutical, paper manufacturing and plastic industry. Mannitol is a sugar alcohol that can replace sucrose to make sugar-free compound coatings. Mannitol can be used to maintain the proper moisture level in foods to increase shelf-life and stability because it is non- hygroscopic and chemically inert (Kraan, 2012). However, there are only few studies reported on the production of biodegradable plastic using mannitol. Hence, more information and research are required on its studies.
The last polysaccharide is sargassan. Sargassan is a sulphated heteropolysaccharide which has similar monosaccharides composition, D-glucuronic acid, D-mannose, D-galactose, D-xylose, L- fucose and protein moiety. Abdel-Fattah et al., (1974) stated that the backbone of sargassan is composed of glucuronic acid, mannose and galactose residues, neutral and partially sulphated residues of galactose as well as xylose and fucose as side chains. In addition, this polysaccharide played role in anticoagulant and has similar composition same like fucoidan. However, there is no study related to production of biodegradable plastic from sargassan where sargassan mainly has application on pharmaceutical.
Among those polysaccharides found in brown algae, alginate has the ability in biodegradable plastic production. While, more studies on mannitol are required as it was reported has application in plastic industry. However, laminarin, fucoidan and sargassan have role in pharmaceutical industry.
2.2.3 Red Algae
Red algae contain various pigments such as chlorophyll, red phycoerythrin, blue phycocyanin, carotenes, lutein and zeaxanthin., phycoerthrin is an important pigment by reflecting red light and absorbing blue light. Red algae are an important resource for carrageenan and agar.
Agar, carrageenan, cellulose, floridean starch, mannan, porphyran, sulphated galactans and xylans are types of polysaccharides that can be found in red algae (Abdul Khalil et al., 2017). A study by Siah et al., (2015), found that dried seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii can successfully develop an edible film which was transparent, flexible, sealable, dissolvable and can withstand stress during handling. According to Hii et al., (2016) agar and carrageenan are widely explored due to their ability to form edible film and grow in harsh condition annually. The red algae are used in different industries such as food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and biotechnology.
In food industry, carrageenan is commonly used as gelling, thickening, stabilizing and water- binding agent (Abdou & Sorour, 2014). They can form membranes and gels easily with good mechanical properties (Suryanto et al., 2019). Carrageenan comes from a family of a linear sulphated polysaccharide and works as an important ingredient for red algae’s cell wall (Patel, 2012). There are three types of carrageenan isomers; kappa, lambda and iota whereby the only difference between them is the position of the ester sulphate groups on the repeating galactose units. Abdou & Sorour (2014) reported, among these three isomers, kappa has the ability to form a good film since it has one negative charge per disaccharides to form a strong and rigid gel. In order to form a good film, the kappa carrageenan blended with starch and at a same time can increase the mechanical properties. Even though starch easy to be prepared, however it has poor physical properties. Therefore, carrageenan was blended together to overcome this issue. In this study, the elongation at break, tensile strength and water vapor permeability of the starch/carrageenan film increases with increasing carrageenan percent.
Next is agar. Agar also has the same role as carrageenan. About 80% production of agar is used as gelling, thickening, stabilizing viscosity controlling agent for jellies, candies, jam and pudding.
According to Parveen et al., (2019), agar is a mixture of two polysaccharides; agarose and agaropectin. Agarose is responsible for gelling properties while agaropectin is responsible for thickening properties respectively. Low cost and the differences in gel-forming behaviours are the main reason for investigation on this polysaccharide. A study by Science et al., (2010) reported that biodegradable agar films from Gracilaria vermiculophylla was successfully developed.
Results showed that the films obtained were transparent, optically clear and also showing good properties similar to the commercial agar films. Phan et al., (2005) mentioned in the study, agar- based films, which used glycerin as plasticizer, has transparent, clear, homogeneous, flexible, and easily handled. Thus, making them suitable for packaging or coating since they can preserve the integrity of the products. Even though, agar-based film was heat-sealable, however, an accurate study would be required to evaluate this property.
The next one is floridean starch where it is the main storage polysaccharides for red algae. It has similar structure as starch of green algae and land plant (Mišurcová et al., 2012) which was made up of sugar that contains carbon, and therefore has the ability to produce biodegradable plastic (Kiruthikavani et al., 2020). However, starch usually is use as filler due to the brittleness and low moisture barrier. Hence, it needs to incorporate with others biopolymer to improve the mechanical properties.
In 2013, Ojima reported that mannan is the second most abundant hemicellulose in nature, existing as structural and storage polysaccharides in both higher plants and seaweed. Recently, researchers in the field of food and pharmaceutical industries are paying attention to mannans and their oligosaccharides which has potential as bioactive materials. Mannans to be found contributes into pharmaceutical industry when display various advantageous effect on human health such as able to reduce intestinal disorders as a dietary fiber (Ojima, 2013). However, there is no study could be found regarding to production of biodegradable plastic from mannan.
Poryphyran belongs to genus Porphyra is another complex sulphated polysaccharide that can be obtained from red algae. In most cases, porphyran shows a linear backbone of alternating 3-linked β-D-galactose and 4-linked α-L-galactose-6-sulfate or 3,6-anhydro-α-L-galactose units (Jiao et al., 2011). 48% dry weight of porphyran available in red algae has been studied for food application (Macartain et al., 2007). It is found that this species played important role in pharmaceutical industry such as antioxidant, antihypertensive, anticancer and anticoagulant. Porphyra is high in protein, carbohydrates and micronutrients content (Venkatraman & Mehta, 2019) which might have the potential to develop as biodegradable plastic/edible film. According to Sharma et al., (2018), the most interesting edible film is the one from protein-based film. This is because protein- based film has impressive gas barrier properties which important in regulating respiration and oxidation. Not only that, it is also has good mechanical properties since it has unique structure of 20 different monomers thus, has high potential in intermolecular binding. A previous study by Ali (2010) reported that protein from sea algae can be modified with starch and sodium disulfite (SDS) to produce a good bioplastic. The addition of starch shows a good performance with almost like a plastic characteristic.
Based on previous studies, agar or carrageenan from the red algae had been extracted extensively to develop biodegradable plastic. Hamzah et al., (2013) claimed that carrageenan from red algae has good barrier properties. Other than that, since it requires only a few steps to obtain carrageenan, film packaging can be produced at a lower cost. Hii et al., (2016) stated that agar-based film can be a good food packaging since it shows transparency, is strong and has flexible characteristics at low moisture content. Besides that, a study by Parveen et al., (2019) found that film mechanical, thermal and water vapor barrier properties can be improved by the addition of nanocellulose to agar. It was found that porphyran also could be the next potential resource for biodegradable plastic due to the high amount of protein present. Not only that, floridean starch which has the same structure as starch in green algae and plants also might be able to be the next polysaccharide that has potential to be developed as a biodegradable plastic. However, mannan can be found widely only in pharmaceutical industry.
3. Conclusion
The composition of polysaccharides present in each alga is described. Nowadays, the using of food packaging from natural resources attracts consumers’ attention. This is due to the good properties that are present in the natural biopolymer; biocompatibility, bio absorbability, biodegradability and nontoxicity. Therefore, the food last longer in terms of preservation, oxidation and microbial spoilage (Gabor & Tita, 2012). Kappa-carrageenan from red algae was widely used in producing biodegradable plastic as it has the ability to form a good film by forming a strong and rigid gel.
Brown algae was selected due to the presence of alginate as it has the ability to form water- insoluble gels which attributes to strong cross-linking interaction, while green algae have cellulose which is highly resistant to water. Some of the polysaccharides such as ulvans and xylans from green algae; mannitol from brown algae; and floridean starch and porphyran from red algae have the potential to be developed as biodegradable plastic, however they are not widely studied and needed to be explored. Ulvans have unique gelling mechanism, enabling them to become the next potential gelling agent in improving the physiochemical during the production of biodegradable plastic. Apart from ulvans, xylans have the potential in coating, binding and packaging, are effective in oxygen barriers and can be made as thermoplastic. Mannitol from brown algae has the ability to maintain proper moisture level in foods, thus, it helps to increase shelf-life and stability as it is non-hygroscopic and chemically inert. On the other hand, floridean starch in brown algae can be used as a filler, and works as good as the starch found in green algae or land plants. Since porphyran is high in protein, it can successfully function as a gas barrier and have good mechanical properties. Given the significant role of polysaccharide in producing high quality product, this review suggests that algae could become a potential resource to form biodegradable plastic.
4. Acknowledgement
Funding: This work was supported by Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis.
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