High-strength Biodegradable Films from Grapevine Agricultural waste

This blog entry has been prepared on the basis of information from GlobalSpec e-zine and Paper published in the Journal, ‘Sustainable Food Technology’. https://insights.globalspec.com/article/24084/grapevine-waste-transformed-into-biodegradable-films-for-eco-friendly-packaging?md=250917&mh=72e741&Vol=Vol10Issue37&Pub=133&LinkId=2206339&keyword=link_2206339&itemid=409669&frmtrk=newsletter&cid=nl

The paper is entitled as “Valorization of grapevine agricultural waste into transparent and high-strength biodegradable films for sustainable packaging”. It is written by five persons and the corresponding author is Dr. Srinivas Janaswamy of the Department of Dairy and Food Science of the South Dakota State University. These films have demonstrated outstanding potential for food packaging applications. The premise is to repurpose agricultural by-products and create high value products that are environment friendly and promote sustainability. This research supports a circular economy and contributes to the advancement of sustainable packaging solutions. In this research, cellulose was extracted from grapevines. For film preparation, the cellulosic residue was swollen in a water bath. It was then solubilized in a Zinc Chloride solution for 30 minutes and then cross-linked in Calcium chloride for 10 min. Next Glycerol was added to the solution for 5 minutes. Solution was then cast in a 10″ by 12″ glass plate using a hand-held applicator. Subsequently Ethanol was added to the tray with the film casted Glass plate. The mixture was shaken at 50 rpm using a digital shaker. After this, the film was peeled off, fixed on wood frame and washed with distilled water for 10 minutes to remove excess ethanol and salt. This was then dried in room temperature and then stored in an air tight bag for characterization. For more details interested readers are referred to : https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/fb/d5fb00211g

To conclude, this research reports on the utilization of cellulosic residue from underutilized grapevine pruning. The GVC films are highly transparent and degrade in soil with a 24% moisture content within 17 days and leave no lasting environmental impact. The films exhibit high Tensile strength. The utilization of lignin and hemi-cellulose fractions from grapevines will contribute to the circular bio-economy.

The above blog article is copyrighted to the Royal Society of Chemistry 2025 and has been articulated as it highlights a very interesting and innovative research in the writer’s opinion and his interest in the Management of Green Technology.