Flexo‐printable glucomannan‐based biofilm

AbstractBiofilms were synthesised from glucomannan and xylan. The ratio of glucomannan: xylan varied from 90:10 (g/g) to 70:30 (g/g). Nanofibrillated cellulose was added to enhance the mechanical properties of the biofilms. In another approach, glucomannan/xylan suspensions were crosslinked with tartaric acid (TA) or citric acid (CA). To evaluate printing on the crosslinked biofilms, a FlexiProof 100 laboratory proofer was used to print on the surface using water‐based flexographic inks. The findings confirmed that crosslinked biofilms exhibited higher mechanical and barrier properties than non‐crosslinked films. TA‐crosslinked films provided the best moisture barrier properties, while CA‐crosslinked films exhibited the highest tensile strength and elongation. Printability analysis revealed that all biofilms had acceptable print contrast and optical density values; the non‐crosslinked biofilms showed the maximum print contrast value. The findings of this research recommend that crosslinked glucomannan‐xylan biofilms are promising candidates for sustainable food‐packaging applications with good printability, mechanical strength and moisture resistance.