David Rusliman, Rizky Aflaha, Aulal Muna, Syahla Salsabila, Kuwat Triyana, Aditya Rianjanu, Condro Wibowo, Hutomo Suryo Wasisto
The development of sustainable and functional alternatives to conventional plastic packaging is critical in addressing environmental concerns and food preservation challenges. Here, we develop self-healable biodegradable films based on sodium alginate and konjac glucomannan, plasticized with sorbitol, using a straightforward single-step casting method. Besides being investigated in terms of their water-triggered autonomous self-healing performance, these films have been applied on fresh fruit products, which clearly show their outstanding properties and high potential in real applications. The resulting films exhibit water-triggered intrinsic self-healing capability, achieving tensile strength recovery efficiencies of 95.76% and 73.65% for pure sodium alginate and konjac-glucomannan-blended sodium alginate composite films, respectively. Physicochemical and mechanical characterization studies confirm that the film healing process does not significantly alter film thickness, tensile strength, elongation at break, Young's modulus, or water vapor transmission rate. Application trials on red grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) using brushing and wrapping techniques demonstrate the films' effectiveness in preserving weight, firmness, titratable acidity, vitamin C content, and visual appearance over a 20-day storage period under ambient conditions. These findings highlight the dual role of konjac-glucomannan-blended sodium alginate films as both biodegradable packaging and active self-repairing materials, offering a scalable, environmentally friendly solution for fresh produce preservation. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026.
Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Jl. Dr. Soeparno 61, Purwokerto, 53123, Indonesia; PT Foodfuture Icon Nusantara, Purwokerto, 53146, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sekip Utara, BLS 21, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia; Research Center for Nanotechnology Systems, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Building 440-441 Kompleks Sains dan Teknologi (KST) B.J. Habibie, Tangerang Selatan, 15314, Indonesia; Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan, 35365, Indonesia; PT Biostark Analitika Inovasi, Bandung, 40314, Indonesia