International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887) International Conference on Advancements in Engineering and Technology (ICAET 2015) 28 Effect of Plasticizer on the Properties of Pellets Made from Agro-Industrial Wastes Kulsum Jan Department of Food Engineering and Technology SLIET, Longowal- 148106 (India) Shumaila Jan Department of Food Engineering and Technology SLIET, Longowal- 148106 (India) C.S.Riar Department of Food Engineering and Technology SLIET, Longowal- 148106 (India) D.C.Saxena Department of Food Engineering and Technology SLIET, Longowal- 148106 (India) ABSTRACT Extruded pellets were made based on deoiled rice bran and paddy husk using glycerol and cashew nut shell liquid as plasticizer. Effects of incorporation levels of glycerol (GL, 6 to 14 %) and cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL, 6 to 14%) on the physical and functional characteristics of extruded pellets based on deoiled rice bran and paddy husk powders were studied. For A3 samples (12% GL) radial expansion (RE- 1.052), bulk density (BD-0.697 g/cm 3 ), water solubility index (WSI-13.000%), water binding capacity (WBC -5.237%) and hardness (HD-498.253 N) were observed. However, in case of B3 samples (12% CNSL), radial expansion (RE-1.019), bulk density (BD-0.567 g/cm 3 ), water solubility index (WSI- 15.037 %), water binding capacity (WBC-4.785) and hardness (HD- 495.027 N) were observed. Results indicated that GL and CNSL had a significant effect on physical and functional properties of the pellets. The results suggest that deoiled rice bran and paddy husk powder can be plasticized with glycerol and cashew nut shell liquid for the development of durable pellets using extrusion technology to be used further for the development of biodegradable molded pots. General Terms Biodegradable pellets, extrusion, injection molding. Keywords Cashew nut shell liquid, Glycerol, physical and functional properties. 1. INTRODUCTION Extrusion cooking as a continuous mixing, cooking and forming process, is a low cost, versatile, and efficient technology in food processing. The raw materials during extrusion undergo chemical and structural transformations, such as starch gelatinization, protein denaturation, complex formation between amylose and lipids, and degradation reactions of vitamins, pigments, etc. [1]. Extrusion has found its application in other sectors like packaging technology (pellets for film and molded product development) besides being used for the development of food products. The properties of materials during extrusion are modified due to physico-chemical changes of the biopolymers due to the thermal energy generated by viscous dissipation during extrusion, combined with shearing effect [2]. Over the last two decades, polymers from renewable resources have attracted an increasing amount of attention due to two major reasons: firstly environmental concerns, and secondly the realization that our petroleum resources are finite. Generally, polymers from renewable resources contain natural polymers, such as protein, starch and cellulose. The demand for inexpensive sources of protein, which can be used as a value added products is increasing in recent years [3]. Protein has attracted much attention as one of the important renewable and abundant resources in the field of packaging due to its biodegradability [4]. Deoiled Rice bran (DOB) is a valuable source of such inexpensive protein, contains about 12-20% protein [5] and is an underutilized agro industrial by-product [6]. Proteins are linked via substituted amide bonds forming a highly complex polymer. Due its complexity in composition and structure, proteins possess multiple functional properties; such as gelation, solubility, emulsification, elasticity and cohesion-adhesion [7]. Damodaran [8] reported that protein has an ability to interact with neighbouring molecules and form a strong cohesive, viscoeleastic sheets and composites that can withstand thermal and mechanical motions [9]. Manisha [10] developed extruded pellets with proteins isolated from deoiled Rice Bran for the development of biodegradable molded sheets and determined the effect of glycerol on the properties of the sheet. Paddy husk is also one of the major agricultural residues containing cellulose in similar amounts with wood [11]. Usually paddy husk has been a problem for rice farmers due to its resistance to its difficult digestion, decomposition in the ground, inadequate final disposal (burning) and low nutritional value for animals [12,13]. According to Martiferrer [14] the hemicellulose and lignin contents of paddy husk are lower than wood. For this reason paddy husk can be processed at higher temperatures than wood. Therefore, the use of paddy husk in the manufacture of biodegradable pellets using extrusion technology is attracting much attention. Simone [12] has successfully developed biodegradable thermoplastics composites by melt extrusion using paddy husk flour as filler and found that density of composites slightly increased with filler. Yang [15, 16, 17] in various studies observed that tensile and impact strengths decreased with increasing filler loading while the elastic modulus increased in case of paddy husk composites. Han [18] determined the possibility of using lignocellulosic materials as reinforcing fillers in the thermoplastic polymer composite, and found that paddy husk could be utilized as biodegradable filler in polymeric materials to minimize environmental pollution. In view of the vast availability of these two types of by- products and waste materials: extruded pellets were developed and characterized. Moreover, no research till date has been published on pellets developed from these two biodegradable agro industrial wastes using GL and CNSL as plasticizer. Hence, the main aim was to study the aspects related to the effect of the different types of plasticizer on the properties of the pellets and to establish correlations between these properties. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS