Egg white can help make anti-bacterial bioplastic

Bioplastics made from protein sources such as egg albumin and whey may have significant antibacterial properties, scientists, including those of Indian-origin, have found.
The findings could eventually lead to their application in plastics used in medical applications such as wound healing dressings, sutures, catheter tubes and drug delivery.
The bioplastic materials could also be used for food packaging, researchers said.
Researchers tested three non-traditional bioplastic materials - albumin, whey and soy proteins - as alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics that pose risks of contamination.
In particular, albumin, a protein found in egg whites, demonstrated tremendous antibacterial properties when blended with a traditional plasticiser such as glycerol.

"It was found that it had complete inhibition, as in no bacteria would grow on the plastic once applied," said Alex Jones, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

"The bacteria wouldn't be able to live on it," said Jones, who authored the research with Suraj Sharma, from department of textiles, merchandising and interiors and Abhyuday Mandal from the department of statistics.
One of the researchers' aims is to find ways to reduce the amount of petroleum used in traditional plastic production; another is to find a fully biodegradable bioplastic.
The albumin-glycerol blended bioplastic met both standards, Jones said.

"If you put it in a landfill, this being pure protein, it will break down. If you put it in soil for a month - at most two months - these plastics will disappear," he said.
The study appears in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science.