An Overview on the Role of Wheat Gluten as a Viable Substitute for Biodegradable Plastics

Abstract

Petroleum resources are limited and stringent environmental concerns are increasing; biodegradable materials made from renewable agricultural resources such as carbohydrates, starch and proteins are attracting much attention for sustainable development and environmental conservation. As per the annual production of wheat in India, it is the second largest producer in the world after China. In this paper, we explore the possibility of wheat protein known as gluten as a promising substitute for petroleum-based plastics and environment-friendly thermosetting composites. Plant proteins from wheat show an advantage for use as films and plastics because of their abundant resources, low cost, good biodegradability and suitable properties like rheological properties, water sensitivity, sound absorption and thermal behavior. The paper aims to explain the extraction of gluten and to review the blending of gluten with different plasticizers such as glycerol, water and some cross-linking agents to enhance the above-mentioned properties. An extensive review of the existing literature reveals that wheat gluten (WG)-based bioplastics are nontoxic and fully biodegradable, whatever the technological process is applied; thus, the paper also discusses the biodegradability of WG-based bioplastics. We conclude the paper by incorporating a critical summary of the various parameters and chemicals used to enhance the properties of gluten-based composites.