Abstract:
In this work, we developed a potato starch film incorporated with curcumin to be
used as a pH-sensitive smart polymeric material, which could be applied as a pH
probe in food industry. The Beer-Lambert law was used to characterize curcumin
which was purchased from the pharmacy of alternative medicine in the city of
Benghazi. As a control experiment, the visual colour changes of curcumin powder
dissolved in buffered aqueous solution were examined at the pH rage of 5-11. It was
found that the colour of the solution altered from yellow to reddish-brown, as the pH
of the curcumin solution changed from 7 to 8. Curcuminwas also incorporated into
the starch extracted from potato before being formed into an edible film using a
solution casting method. The pH-sensitivity of film was investigated at varied pH
values (pH 5-11), the visual colour variations of tapioca starch-curcumin film was
noted. The colour of edible film changed from pale yellow to dark orange colour by
increasing the pH.But, the addition curcumin to the potato starch film did not alter
mechanical properties of starch. As a result of an alteration in film colours, the
potato starch-curcumin film could be applied as a natural pH indicator for
monitoring food spoilage based on the acidity changes. Likewise, an
environmentally friendly indicator film was too accomplished
