Technofunctional properties of films made from ethylene vinyl acetate/whey protein isolate compounds

One challenge faced by the plastics industry is that crude oil will become scarcer and more expensive in the future. Furthermore, an increase in plastic waste is leading to a strongly growing demand for sustainable alternatives to traditional, crude oil-based polymers in the packaging sector. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the incorporation of whey protein isolates (WPIs) on the technofunctional properties of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) films. The compounding EVA with WPI was conducted in a co-rotating twin-screw extruder at varying processing temperatures. WPI and hydrolysed WPI with a degree of hydrolysis of 10% were used up to 35% (w/w) as filler. The tensile strength and elongation at break of the resulting EVA-based films decreased significantly with increasing filler content. Because of the hydrophilicity of WPI, the water vapour permeability of the films increased. Advantageously, the oxygen barrier was enhanced by 50-80% compared with that of pure EVA films, which offered the potential of using whey proteins as a filler in compounds for packaging materials for their oxygen barrier properties. In addition, this study provides a promising perspective on the thermoplastic processing of whey protein formulations in the future.