Food Hydrocolloids 93 (2019) 276–283

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Food Hydrocolloids
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodhyd

A simple method for improving the properties of the sago starch films T
prepared by using ultrasonication treatment
Hairul Abrala,∗, Azmi Basria, Faris Muhammada, Yuzalmi Fernandoa, Fadli Hafizulhaqa,
Melbi Mahardikaa, Eni Sugiartib, S.M. Sapuanc, R.A. Ilyasc, Ilfa Stephaned
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Andalas University, 25163, Padang, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia
b
High-Temperature Coating Laboratory, Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Serpong, Indonesia
c
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
d
Department of Information System, STMIK Indonesia Padang, 25136, Indonesia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Starch granules containing amylopectin-rich fractions like sago starch may remain insoluble and undamaged
Starch film decreasing properties of the film. The aim of this study is to characterize native sago starch films prepared using
Transparency ultrasonication. An ultrasonication probe was used during gelatinization for 2.5, 5, and 10 min respectively.
Ultrasonication Ultrasonication decreases the incomplete gelatinized granules resulting in a film with a more compact structure,
Ghost
and lower moisture vapor permeability than non-treated film. The longest duration resulted in a film with the
highest transparency, and the highest thermal resistance. The duration for 5 min increased tensile strength of the
film by 227%, and its moisture absorption decreased by 29.83% compared to non-sonicated film. After ultra-
sonication for 10 min, melting temperature increased by 7% in comparison to non-sonicated film. This work
promotes a simple method to improve the tensile and physical properties of starch based film.

1. Introduction waves which shatter the aggregations of the agglomerated granules

Development of starch-based bioplastics has been given consider-
able attention as an environmentally friendly biodegradable alternative
to hydrocarbon-based plastics (Abral et al., 2018). When starch films
are used for food packaging it is required to have good transparency,
sufficient strength and low moisture absorption so as be able to improve
the shelf life of food. Solution casting is one of common method for
preparing starch film, especially at the laboratory level. During this
preparation, some defects resulting in inhomogeneous structures may
occur. These inhomogeneous structure result from incompletely soluble
starch granules often called ghosts (Abral et al., 2018). This can de-
crease the transparency of starch film (Garcia-Hernandez, Vernon-
Carter, & Alvarez-Ramirez, 2017). Ghost formation is a result of cross-
linking of polysaccharide chains within swollen granules (Debet &
Gidley, 2007). Previous studies found that ultrasonication is effective in
reducing insoluble and agglomerated starch granules (Abral, Putra,
Asrofi, Park, & Kim, 2018; Lima & Andrade, 2010). This is because
sound energy from ultrasonication produces acoustic cavitation: the
formation, growth, and collapse of starch granules within the liquid
matrix (Asrofi et al., 2018b; Mahardika, Abral, Kasim, Arief, & Asrofi,
2018). The violent collapse of the bubbles results in microjets and shock
suspended (Syafri, Kasim, Abral, & Asben, 2018).
Physical and mechanical properties of a maize starch film after ul-
trasonication of the starch gel improve due to an increase in homo-
geneity of the structural starch film resulting in increased transparency
and tensile strength of the film along disappearance of the ghosts (Abral
et al., 2018; Cheng, Chen, Liu, Ye, & Ke, 2010). In contrast, another
previous study claimed that a high ghost phase fraction enhanced the
tensile (elongation at break and tensile stress) properties of corn starch
film (Garcia-Hernandez et al., 2017). These dissimilarities in results
could be due to differences in the starch sources used for preparing
starch films.
This present study used sago starch granules from Metroxylon Sagu
palm. This material is abundantly available in tropical country like
Indonesia and has a very low cost compared with other common star-
ches (Abral, Kasmianto, & Mastariyanto Perdana, 2012; Nouri &
Mohammadi Nafchi, 2014). Sago palm contains a large amount of
starch in its trunk and its productivity was about 4 times that of paddy
rice (Karim, Tie, Manan, & Zaidul, 2008). Sago starch has unique
characteristics and some of its physicochemical properties similar to
common starch like cassava and potato (Mohammadi Nafchi, Cheng, &
Karim, 2011). It is a potential source for bioplastics with high

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: abral@ft.unand.ac.id (H. Abral).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2019.02.012
Received 14 August 2018; Received in revised form 24 January 2019; Accepted 6 February 2019
Available online 10 February 2019
0268-005X/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Abral, et al.
amylopectin content leading to better tensile properties (Ismail &
Zaaba, 2012). However, starch films from granules with high amylo-
pectin may have incompletely soluble and agglomerated starch gran-
ules decreasing film properties (Debet & Gidley, 2007).
Many studies have been reported on the properties of starch-based
films made from various starches including high amylopectin corn, ji-
cama, and wheat (Abral et al., 2018; Debet & Gidley, 2007; Garcia-
Hernandez et al., 2017; Hafizulhaq, Abral, Kasim, Arief, & Affi, 2018).
However, as far as the authors are aware no work has been reported on
sago starch film prepared using an ultrasonic probe. Therefore, the
objective of the present study was to determine the properties of the
sago starch prepared by a simple and environmentally friendly method
using ultrasonication further. The main motivation was to obtain the
optimum ultrasonic duration of the sago starch gel to maximize several
properties of the film. Morphology of the fracture surface of the plas-
ticized sago film was observed using a field-emission scanning electron
microscopy (FESEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform
infrared (FTIR) of films were characterized. Other properties measured
are viscosity, transparency, tensile strength and modulus, fracture
strain, moisture absorption, water vapor permeability, and thermal
resistance.
2. Materials and experiment
2.1. Material
Sago starch was obtained from local small-scale industry in Padang,
Indonesia. For purification, the starch (1000 g) was mixed with distilled
water (3000 mL). The solution was stirred manually for a 1 min. After
15 h, the liquid fraction containing purities was decanted off leaving
purer sediment of starch. This was repeated three more times. The re-
sulting wet pure starch was poured into a Teflon plate to be dried in a
drying oven (Universal Oven Memmert UN-55) for 20 h at 50 °C. A
small electrical blender was used to refine dried starch bundles for
5 min. Chemical analysis indicated that the purified sago starch con-
tained 21% amylose, and 79% amylopectin indicating it was a high
amylopectin content starch (Al-Hassan & Norziah, 2012).
2.2. Preparation of the bioplastic
The purified sago starch, distilled water, and glycerol were weighed
for 15, 150, and 7.5 g respectively using a precision balance to the
nearest 0.1 mg (Kenko). These materials were mixed and gelatinized
using a hot plate magnetic stirrer (Daihan MSH-20D) at 500 rpm, 70 °C
for 45 min. This gelatinization temperature of sago gel was determined
by using a temperature probe integrated with the hot plate magnetic
stirrer. When the solution started to gelatinize that was the temperature
chosen for this process and subsequent ultrasonication. During gelati-
nization, four gel samples were treated; one without and three with
ultrasonication for 2.5, 5, and 10 min respectively using a 20 mm dia-
meter SJIA 1200W ultrasonic probe at 600 W at 100% amplitude and
20 kHz. Ultrasonication times longer than 10 min were initially trailed
but because the of films from these proved too brittle for further testing
so were not used in this study. Ultrasonic warming was limited so the
gel temperature did not exceed 70 °C. Viscosity of four non- and soni-
cated gel samples was measured using an NDJ-8S digital rotary visc-
ometer at 50 °C with rotor #2 at 6 rpm about 10 s. The sample was cast
in a petri dish (140 mm diameter). The petri dish was vibrated using an
ultrasonic bath (PS-70AL, 420 W, 40 kHz, 100% amplitude) for 15 min
to remove trapped air bubbles and ensure homogeneity of the gel. A
film formed after drying in a drying oven (Universal Oven Memmert
UN-55) at 50 °C for 21 h. All the tested samples were labelled with the
letter S (starch film), and a number corresponding to the ultrasonic
duration used. Thus the abbreviation S-2.5 represents starch film ul-
trasonicated for 2.5 min.
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Food Hydrocolloids 93 (2019) 276–283
Table 1
Viscosity of the starch gel before and after ultrasonication.
Sample Viscosity (MPa.s) Rotation speed (rpm)/T (oC)
S-0 4999 6/50
S-2.5 125
S-5 164
S-10 465
2.3. Characterization
2.3.1. Opacity
The opacity of the film was measured using UV-vis spectro-
photometer (Shimadzu UV 1800; Japan) between wavelengths of
400–800 nm according to ASTM D 1003-00 (Standard Test Method for
Haze and Luminous Transmittance of Transparent Plastics). Films of
0.34 mm thickness were cut into 9 × 35 mm rectangles. The opacity
measurement was carried out in triplicate.
2.3.2. FESEM observation
The fracture surface of the sample after tensile testing was observed
using FESEM. The film samples were placed on the FESEM sample stub.
They were coated with carbon and gold to reduce the static charge. The
surface morphology of the sample was observed using a model JFIB
4610 SEM from JEOL with 10 kV and 8 mA.
2.3.3. FTIR
FTIR spectra of the non- and sonicated film (S-0, S-2.5, S-5, and S-
10) were recorded using an IR spectrometer (PerkinElmer Frontier
equipment) to compare the functional groups and molecular bond
structure of the film. Before the characterization, all samples were dried
using a drying oven (Universal Oven Memmert UN-55 at 50 °C) until
constant weight. The dried samples were cut (approximately
10 × 10 mm) with steel scissor, formed into a sheet film and scanned at
a frequency range of 4000–600 cm−1 at 4 cm−1 resolution. Three dif-
ferent locations for each sample per treatment were tested.
2.3.4. X-ray diffraction
PANalyticalXpert PRO at 25 °C, 40 kV and 30 mA was used to per-
form X-ray diffraction testing. The samples were scanned from 2θ = 3°
to 40°. The crystallinity index (CI) percentage was measured using an
Eq. (1) (Segal, Creely, Martin, & Conrad, 1958):
(I200 − Iam)
CI (%) = x 100
I200 (1)
where I200 is the intensity of the peak at 22.6° which is associated with
the crystalline region of cellulose, and Iam is the intensity taken at
2θ = 18° in the diffraction pattern as characteristic of the amorphous
regions in the cellulose.
2.3.5. Tensile properties
A testing machine (Com-Ten testing machine 95T) was used to
characterize the tensile properties of films including tensile strength
(TS), tensile modulus (TM) and fracture strain (FS). All samples were
prepared with ASTM D882-12 standard and conditioned for 48 h with
50 ± 5% relative humidity at 25 °C. Tensile tests were performed with
tensile speed for 3 mm/min at room temperature and repeated five
times for each sample.
2.3.6. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and derivative (DTG), differential
thermal analysis (DTA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
Thermal gravimetric analysis is a method to measure the thermal
characteristics of materials such as the starch based film (Abral et al.,
2018). TGA, DTG and DTA of samples were performed by using a
thermal analysis instrument DTG-60 from Shimadzu. The samples were
H. Abral, et al. Food Hydrocolloids 93 (2019) 276–283

Fig. 1. FESEM fracture surface photographs of the film a) before and b) after ultrasonication. Crack (i) is observed in the boundary between homogeneous (ii) and
inhomogeneous structures (iii).

Fig. 2. Opacity of the starch film after various treatments. Fig. 3. FTIR curves before and after ultrasound treatment.

weighed between 4 and 5 mg and input into the instrument which was
set up with a nitrogen flow rate of 50 ml/min and the heating rate of
20 °C/min. DSC was measured using TA Instrument (Model Q20) from
room temperature up to 280 °C at 10 °C/min with nitrogen flow rate of
50 ml/min. The weight of each sample was 5–10 mg.
2.3.7. Moisture absorption and water vapor permeability
Moisture absorption (MA): Both non-sonicated and sonicated films
were dried in a drying oven (Universal Oven Memmert UN-55) until
constant weight then stored in a closed chamber with 99% relative
humidity (RH) for 9 h. The samples were taken out and weighed on a

Table 2
Tensile properties, opacity, and crystallinity index (CI), T of O-H stretching in the peak at about 3300 cm−1 of the films before and after ultrasonication.
Sample TS (MPa)* TM (MPa)* FS (%)* CI (%) T (%)* Opacity (AUnm)*

a a a,b a,b
S-0 0.59 ± 0.21 36.96 ± 5.91 8.07 ± 3.91 12.9 9.9 ± 0.64 385.9 ± 0.73a
S-2.5 0.81 ± 0.27a 60.46 ± 9.74a 5.99 ± 2.49a 15.6 9.7 ± 0.22a 325.5 ± 0.72b
S-5 1.93 ± 0.82b 118.71 ± 50.55b 13.36 ± 2.9b 15.0 10.2 ± 0.61a,b 283.3 ± 0.15c
S-10 1.17 ± 0.17a,b 80.97 ± 9.53a,b 7.85 ± 2.05a 15.4 13.0 ± 2.29b 192.5 ± 0.06d

*Values are mean ± SD. Different letters in each column explain significant difference at 5% level of probability among sago starch films.

278
H. Abral, et al.
Fig. 4. XRD patterns of the non-sonicated and sonicated films.
precision balance to the nearest 0.1 mg (Kenko). Percentage of MA in
the sample was calculated using Eq. (2) (Syafri, Kasim, Abral, & Asben,
2017):
(wh − wo)
Moisture absorption (%) = x 100
wo
where:
wh is final weight and wo initial weight of sample.
Water vapor permeability (WVP): Film with diameter of about 45 mm
was stored in a desiccator at RH 50 ± 5% and 25 °C for seven days.
This film was sealed on top of a plastic bottle (45 mm diameter) con-
taining distilled water of 30 mL (100% RH). Sealing the film uses
Vaseline for preventing the leakage of moisture through seals. The
bottle was weighed to get initial mass and stored in a closed desiccator
(1000 g silica gel) at 25 °C. A Kenko precision balance to the nearest
0.1 mg was used to weigh the bottles for each 3 h during 24 h. Average
WVP value was determined using the Eq. (3):
(dW x L)
WVP =
(dt x dp x A)
where dW = weight loss of the plastic bottle (g), L = film thickness
(m), A = the exposed area of film sealing top of a plastic bottle (m2),
dt = the time under the partial water vapor pressure gradient
(dP = 2533 Pa). Three samples per treatment were tested.
2.3.8. Statistical analysis
IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0 (IBM Corporation, Chicago, USA) was used
to conduct statistical analysis. The effect of non-sonicated and sonicated
treatments on opacity, tensile properties, water vapor permeability, and
moisture absorption of the films at the 5% significance level was
identified using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and P-test. The mea-
surements were replicated at least three times for each film tested.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Viscosity
Table 1 displays viscosity of the starch gel before and after ultra-
sonication. Two and a half minutes of ultrasonication reduces viscosity
dramatically from 4999 to 125 MPa s. However longer ultrasonication
increases viscosity that may be due to lower temperature of the gel. The
drastic decrease in viscosity can be attributed to the high mobility of the
Food Hydrocolloids 93 (2019) 276–283
sonicated gel due to the kinetic energy of the jets of liquid from acoustic
cavitation scissoring the sago starch long polymer chain into shorter
lengths, thus increasing the fraction of free mobile starch molecules
(Cheng et al., 2010). Ultrasonication also breaks cross-links between
polymers, resulting in an increase in the number of mobile polymer
molecules. It also destroys the granular starch agglomerations hin-
dering mobility of the polymer chains in the gel which will result in
lowering the viscosity. Similar decreases in viscosity of the starch gel
have been observed in previous studies due to ultrasonic treatment
(Cheng et al., 2010; Iida, Tuziuti, Yasui, Towata, & Kozuka, 2008).
3.2. FESEM morphology
Fig. 1 shows the FESEM fracture surface of tensile samples before
and after ultrasonication in cross-section. The non-sonicated film
(Fig. 1a) displays a rougher surface than the sonicated film (Fig. 1b, 1c,
1d). The rough surface is attributed to the presence of partially gelati-
nized starch that impedes crack propagation. Smoother and more
homogeneous fracture surface are observed for longer ultrasonic
duration. As shown in Fig. 1a, micro and nano cracks appear at
boundaries between the complete and incomplete gelatinized sections
(marked with i). These two sections had different molecular structures
resulting in a weak bonding in the boundary. As a result of this
weakness, initial crack may propagate along this boundary. Further-
more, where clumps of starch agglomerations occur micro and nano-
sized porosities will exist between the starch agglomerations. This may
result in more spaces for water molecules to diffuse. Homogeneous and
(2)
non-homogeneous gelatinized starch structures may experience slip-
page at boundary surfaces due to poor interface bonding, thus reducing
tensile properties of the film. Ultrasonication eliminates these defects
resulting in better properties.
3.3. Opacity
Fig. 2 displays the absorbance curve as function of wavelength for
the plasticized film without and with ultrasonication for 2.5, 5 and
10 min. There is a significant increase of the transparency for longer
duration (p ≤ 0.05). The S-0 film had the highest opacity
(385.9 ± 0.73 AUnm) as shown in Table 2. This opacity decreases to
lowest value (192.5 ± 0.06 AUnm) after 10 min ultrasonication. This
lower transparency of the S-0 film is because some defects such as ag-
glomerations of incompletely gelatinized starch hinder light transmis-
sion (Li et al., 2015). When these are eliminated by ultrasonication,
(3)
transmission increases. The more homogeneous and compact structures
of the sonicated film are supported by FESEM results as shown in
Fig. 1d. This result is in agreement with a last study (Fu, Wang, Li, Wei,
& Adhikari, 2011).
3.4. FTIR spectra
Fig. 3 displays average FTIR curve of three different locations of
each sago starch film for various ultrasonic treatment. Bands in range of
3500-3200, 2927, 1647 cm−1 correspond to O-H stretching, C-H
stretching, O-H of absorbed water, respectively (Al-Hassan & Norziah,
2017; Ismail & Zaaba, 2012). According to a previous study, FTIR
spectra in the range of about 3500-3200 cm−1 can be used to measure
the hydrophilicity of the biopolymer (Asrofi, Abral, Kasim, Pratoto, &
Mahardika, 2018; Matějková & Šimon, 2012). In this case, transmit-
tance (T) values in the peak at about 3300 cm−1 became higher for
longer ultrasonic duration. For example, average T of O-H stretching for
non-sonicated film shifts from 9.9±0.64 to 13.0±2.29% after 10 min
ultrasonication (Table 2). This increasing T value can be attributed to
the higher hydrophobicity of the film after ultrasonication (Goyat, Ray,
& Ghosh, 2011). The increasing hydrophobicity is consistent with S-10
film having the highest moisture resistance as shown in Fig. 6. Results
of the FTIR study are in agreement with previous work which has
279
H. Abral, et al.
Fig. 5. Curves of TG (a), DTG (b), DTA (c), and DSC (d) for all sample films. The inset of figure for glass transition (Tg) and melting temperature (Tm).
reported increasing hydrophobicity of biocomposites after ultrasonica-
tion (Asrofi, Abral, Kurnia, Sapuan, & Kim, 2018).
3.5. X-ray diffraction
Fig. 4 displays X-ray diffraction patterns for the film before and after
ultrasonication. All samples show three main sharp peaks at about 18°,
19°, and 23°; a typical diffraction pattern of starch bioplastics as semi-
crystalline materials (Abral et al., 2019, p. 1800224; Duy, Rashid, &
Ismail, 2012). After various ultrasonic treatments, the three main peaks
change that can be related to polymer mobility and orientation of the
polymer crystal lattice (Cheng et al., 2010; Kaith, Jindal, & Maiti,
2009). Table 2 displays the crystallinity index (CI) of each film. CI for S-
0 was lowest (13%), which indicated that S-0 had the largest number of
amorphous structures. After 2.5 min ultrasonication, CI of S-2.5 in-
creased slightly to 16%. However, further ultrasonication makes in-
significant changes in CI of the film. The slight increase in CI may be
due to the more homogeneous polymer structure after ultrasonication
(Asrofi et al., 2018a). Disappearance of ghosts releasing amylopectin or
amylose to the matrix modifies the diffraction pattern (Garcia-
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Food Hydrocolloids 93 (2019) 276–283
Hernandez et al., 2017). This result is consistent with FESEM mor-
phology (Fig. 1b) which showed sonicated film was more compact and
homogeneous. The fact that CI peaks after 2.5 min of sonication sug-
gests this duration is sufficient to achieve a homogeneous polymer
structure. The slight reduction in intensity and narrowing of the three
main peaks in Fig. 4 indicates that longer sonication destroys the
polymer structure (Abral, Lawrensius, Handayani, & Sugiarti, 2018).
3.6. Tensile properties
Average value of tensile strength (TS), tensile modulus (TM), and
fracture strain (FS) were shown in Table 2. There was a slight increase
in both TS and TM and decrease in FS with ultrasonication. For ex-
ample, TS, TM, and FS increase to 227, 221, and 66% after 5 min ul-
trasonication. These results are in contrast to the last findings (Garcia-
Hernandez et al., 2017). The disappearance of defects, such as micro-
and nano-sized cracks, ghosts (see Fig. 1a) and increased amylopectin
in the sago starch matrix as amylopectin-rich ghosts were destroyed
appeared to improve tensile properties (Cheng et al., 2010). However,
film strength increases may also be a result of compaction of the
H. Abral, et al.
Fig. 6. MA (a) and WVP (b) of non-sonicated and sonicated film. The mean difference is significant at p ≤ 0.05. Different letters indicate significant difference among
treatment.
polymer structure resulting in a more effective resistance against ex-
ternal load (Asrofi et al., 2018b). This compactness is a result of the
restructuring of the polymers in the matrix to fill micro- and nano-sized
porosities as more active short chains are created by the ultrasonic ki-
netic energy (Abral et al., 2018). Similar results have also been reported
in a previous study (Cheng et al., 2010).
3.7. Thermal properties
Fig. 5 shows effect of ultrasonication duration on thermal properties
281
Food Hydrocolloids 93 (2019) 276–283
of the film. Thermal resistance of the film increases with a higher ul-
trasonic duration. Fig. 5a shows the type of three steps of weight loss as
temperature increases is observed for all films. The first step of the
weight loss from 60 to 180 °C corresponds to evaporation of absorbed
water (Ilyas, Sapuan, & Ishak, 2018). As temperature increases to
180–360 °C, a second large weight loss appeared due to the volatile
decomposition of the starch film (Abral et al., 2018). As shown in
Fig. 5b, the maximum decomposition rate and the temperature of the
maximum decomposition for S-0 are −0.327 mg/°C, and 342.76 °C
respectively, but −0.275 mg/°C, and 357.4 °C for S-10. This result is
H. Abral, et al.
also in agreement with DTA curve (Fig. 5c) which displays higher ac-
tivation energy for the decomposition of S-10 in comparison to S-0, as
the second endothermic DTA peak shifts from −192.25 μV at 317.89 °C
for S-0 to −210.34 μV at 333.80 °C for S-10. These results confirm
thermal resistance of the film increased after ultrasonication. The more
homogeneous structure and lower number of defects (Fig. 1d) result in
a more compact structure which restricts the movement of the bio-
plastic molecular chains which increases resistance to decomposition
(Liu & Zhang, 2006). This result is also in agreement with a previous
study (El-Shekeil, Sapuan, Jawaid, & Al-Shuja'a, 2014). In the tem-
perature range 360–570 °C, a third weight loss represents a final de-
composition to ash (Abral et al., 2018). DSC curve also confirms the
enhancement of the thermal resistance as shown in Fig. 5d. The glass
transition (Tg) and melting temperature (Tm) of sample without ulra-
sonication was lower than that with ultasonication. For example, Tm for
S-0 is 187.02 °C that is lower (7%) than Tm for S-10 (200.06 °C).
3.8. Moisture absorption and water vapor permeability
Fig. 6a and 6b shows average MA and WVP before and after ultra-
sonication. Non-sonicated sago starch film displayed higher MA than
sonicated, and required a longer time (greater than 6 h) to reach steady
state than sonicated film. The sample that reached steady state fastest
was S-10, with MA of about 29.24% (a 27.39% decrease compared to S-
0). This is because the S-0 film contains more nano and/or micro-sized
porosities for water to diffuse into (Maneerung, Tokura, & Rujiravanit,
2008). Sonication reduced the viscosity of the sago starch gel resulting
in the more active depolymerized chains filling the porosities. Both
dimension and number of porosities decreased causing a decrease in
diffusion of water molecules. The decrease in MA of the film is also
confirmed by the FTIR curve which shows a weaker intensity of the
hydrophilic functional group band at 3500-3200 cm−1 (corresponding
to O-H stretching) and 1647 cm−1 (O-H of absorbed water). The en-
hancement of the moisture resistance was also confirmed in WVP curve
as shown in Fig. 6b. WVP value of the sample after ultrasonication is
lower than that before ultrasonication. This is because the greater
compactness in the polymer structure of the sonicated film leads to
greater resistance to the diffusion of the water molecules (Fu et al.,
2011; Ilyas, Sapuan, Ishak, & Zainudin, 2018). Consequently, it results
in lower WVP values.
4. Conclusions
Sago starch gel was sonicated for 0, 2.5, 5 or 10 min using an ul-
trasonic probe sonicator, then the non- and sonicated gel were treated
using an ultrasonic bath. Ultrasonication duration for 10 min at 600 W
resulted in the best properties of sago starch film including highest
thermal resistance, the lowest water vapor permeability, the highest
transparency, and the lowest moisture absorption. The sonicated film
showed a more compact and homogeneous structure, and had higher
thermal resistance, and tensile strength than the non-sonicated film.
Permeability to water vapor, opacity, and water absorption capacity of
the films significantly decreased after ultrasonication. This present
study provides further evidence that ultrasonication could become one
simple, environmentally friendly process in the fabrication of sago
starch film to improve its properties.
Acknowledgment
Acknowledgment is addressed to Directorate General of Higher
Education for supporting research funding with project name
Fundamental Research (grant number 06/UN.16.17/PP.PKLN.MM/
LPPM/2019).
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Food Hydrocolloids 93 (2019) 276–283
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