The Development of Edible Straw from Apple and Durian Peel

Over the past few decades, there has been a surge in the demand for plastic utensils, especially plastic straw which contribute to consumption of toxic chemicals. The use of plastic straws has led to plastic pollution crisis due to their non-biodegradability and lengthy decomposition periods. Currently, various kinds of edible straw have been developed to replace traditional plastic straw to reduce the environmental pollution, however the edible straw usually has weak structural integrity and becomes soggy when immersed in beverages. The purpose of this study is to develop the production of edible straw from fruit peel, such as apple and durian peel skin and investigate the physicochemical characteristics of the edible straw at different temperatures. The manufacturing process of edible straw using fruit peel can be categorized into 3 main steps, including preparation of fruit peel paste using fruit peel and distilled water at weight ratio 1:0.3, preparation of edible film as well as drying and demoulding of edible straw. Then, a series of tests including water absorption test, heat resistance test and swelling ratio test have been conducted to investigate the functionality of the edible straw in different kinds of beverages, including hot and cold liquids at temperature ranges from 5 °C to 65 °C. The observation suggests that durian peel edible straw has higher water absorption capability, heat resistance and swelling ratio when soaked in liquids compared to apple peel edible straw. Both the apple and durian peel edible straw are best for use at beverage temperature within 25 °C. Durian peel edible straw has better performance as it can be used for beverage temperature up until 65 °C while only 45 °C for apple peel edible straw.