Abstract:
The objective of this research was to study the effect of aging temperature, the ratio of rice flour to albumen protein content, and the concentration of core material (synthetic color) on release properties of composite films prepared from rice flour and egg albumen in order to understand the effects of the ratio of rice flour to albumen protein content, aging temperature, and concentration of core material on microstructure, physical properties and releasing mechanism of egg albumen and rice flour composite film. The knowledge gained is useful for designing the controlled-release carrier or coating. The result obtained indicated that the ratio of rice flour in the range of 0 to 40 percent of albumen protein and the aging temperature in the range of 5 to 60oC significantly affected (p ? 0.05) the moisture content of the composite film. The moisture content of composite film decreased as the proportion of the rice flour used increased. It was found that when aging temperature increased, the films moisture content also increased. Regarding to the physical properties of the film, the transparency and flexibility of the film decreased as the proportion of rice flour used increased. The ratio of rice flour in the range of 0 to 40 percent of albumen protein had an effect on the effective diffusivity (Deff) of the film, while aging temperature of 15 to 30oC and the concentration of core material in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 percent did not significantly affect (p > 0.05) the films effective diffusivity. Overall, the Deff of the composite film having rice flour as filler was lower than that of egg albumen film, suggesting its potential use as controlled release coating.