PREPARATION AND CHARACTERISATION OF ZEIN AND CHITOSAN EDIBLE FILM L.X. Pinho 1 , M. Oliveira 1 , W.Q. Oliveira 1 , R.F. Furtado 1 , M.S.R. Bastos 1 , A. Biswas 2 , H. N. Cheng 3 , Figueiredo, R.W. 4 1 Laboratory of food packaging – Embrapa Tropical Agroindustry – CEP: 60511-110 – Fortaleza – CE – Brasil, Telephone: +55 (85) 3391-7359, e-mail: (liviaxerez@outlook.com; marilia.oliveira@pq.cnpq.br; williara@hotmail.com; roselayne.furtado@embrapa.br; socorro.bastos@embrapa.br) 2 USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, 1815 North University Street, Peoria, IL 61604, USA, Telephone: +1 (309) 6816526 - e-mail: Atanu.Biswas@ars.usda.gov) 3 USDA Agricultural Research Service, Southern Regional Research Center, 1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124, USA, Telephone: +1 (504) 2864200 - e-mail: (HN.Chen@ars.usda.gov) 4 UFC Universidade Federal do Ceará – CEP: 60440-900 – Fortaleza – CE – Brasil, Telephone: +55 (85) 33669739, e-mail: (figueira@ufc.br). RESUMO – O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver uma blenda de zeina-quitosana e estudar o efeito do calor sobre a quitosana no processo de elaboração de filme. As soluções de zeina e de quitosana foram preparadas separadamente. Duas soluções de quitosana foram produzidas uma aquecida a 80 ºC durante 1 h, e outra só agitada durante 1 h e sem aquecimento. Espessura, cor, solubilidade em água, ângulo de contacto e as propriedades mecânicas dos filmes foram analisados. Os dados indicaram que o aquecimento da solução de quitosana não melhorou as características físicas do filme. Em vez disso, os filmes zeina-quitosana preparados com quitosana sem aquecimento apresentaram melhores resultados para a solubilidade em água, ângulo de contato e propriedades mecânicas. ABSTRACT – The aim of this work was to develop zein/chitosan blends and study the heat effect on chitosan in the film-making process. The zein and chitosan solutions were prepared separately; two different chitosan solutions were produced, one heated at 80 ºC for 1 h, and another just stirred for 1 h and unheated. Thickness, color, water solubility, contact angle and mechanical properties of the blend films were investigated. The data indicated that heating the chitosan solution did not improve the physical characteristics of the film. Instead, the zein-chitosan films prepared with unheated chitosan showed better results for water solubility, contact angle and mechanical properties. PALAVRAS CHAVE: zeina; quitosana; formação de filme; aplicação para alimentos. KEYWORDS: zein; chitosan; blend; film formation; food packaging application. 1. INTRODUCTION Environmental pollution as a consequence of waste from packaging plastics has recently become a major issue (Paramawati et al., 2001). The use of biodegradable, environmentally friendly and renewable materials, such as proteins, thermoplastic starch and other polysaccharides has steadily increased in food packaging. These biopolymers have partly replaced the polymers synthesized from petroleum-based feedstock (Forato et al., 2013). Zein is extracted from corn during industrial processing or production of bioethanol. Because it is a natural polymer with interesting properties, it has a high potential to be a bioplastic. Thus, it has