Making Bioplastic from Orange Peel - REMIX EL BARRIO
🌝 Ingredients: 4g corn husk fiber, and/or a bit threads (to replace wool fiber) 1L water 24g pomelo peel (to replace orange peel) Calcium Chloride 25g sodium alginate 84.2g glycerin 11.2g soybean oil (to replace coconut oil)
🫙 Equipment: Strainer Scale Spatula Grinder Scissors Frame Cooking pot Funnel
I read these two fascinating study about creating biodegradable and antimicrobial bioplastics from fruit peels—specifically citrus peel biomass.
What makes this bioplastic so effective is the natural combination of materials found in fruit peels. Citrus peels, for instance, contain cellulose (a strong polymer), pectin (a natural binder), and polyphenols (which have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties). By harnessing these components, the researchers produced a material with impressive qualities: it’s flexible, has good tensile strength, blocks gases, and, importantly, inhibits bacterial growth. In their experiments, this bioplastic extended the shelf life of perishable fruits like bananas and mangoes. It’s fully degradable, compostable, and can even be recycled—showing a complete “closed-loop” cycle. This is exactly the kind of sustainable innovation needed in the food packaging industry, where reliance on petrochemical plastics is not only wasteful but a threat to ecosystems and health.
The study details a relatively simple process for creating this bioplastic. By using citric acid and heat treatment, they activated the peels' natural components without complex extraction steps. This technique leverages the natural compatibility of cellulose, pectin, and polyphenols, forming stable and high-performing bioplastics without additional toxic additives. Interestingly, this method also leaves no waste, as all components of the peel are used, with even the leftover pectin being recovered for other uses.
From Wenwen & Ziyi
Prepare and weigh the materials
Dry the pomelo peel (in an oven or a microwave)
⬆️ oops, try not to over-dry it! 😶🌫️🥵🫠
(Tip: if you heat it with a microwave, you can heat for 1-2 minutes, stop and check its status, then decide whether to continue heating or not;
If you cut it to smaller pieces, it gets dried more easily — but also get burnt more easily.
this time, oh, what a cute golden crispy fresh-smelling pomelo dear!!
