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Characterization of Extruded Plant Protein and Petroleum-Based Packaging Sheets

¹Graduate student, Food Science Graduate Prog., Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. ²Associate professor, Department of Animal Sciences & Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. ³Assistant professor, Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801. ⁴Corresponding author. Fax: 785- 532-56-81. E-mail: therald@oznet.ksu.edu

Extruded packaging sheets (EPS) were manufactured from wheat gluten (WG) or sorghum flour (SF) in combination with (10, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) low density polyethylene (LDPE) or metallocene-catalyzed ethylene-butene copolymer (MCEBC), and plasticized successfully with sorbitol at a weight ratio of 1:1. Physical analyses were used to characterize the extruded packaging materials. Tensile strengths and elongations of the sheets significantly decreased as the WG or SF increased. Sheets formulated with ≈1:1:2 wheat gluten, sorbitol, and MCEBC exhibited similar elastic properties compared with a 100% MCEBC sheet. Young's modulus and percent elongation at break values decreased as WG-sorbitol or SF-sorbitol level increased in the EPS.