Serafica Btari Christiyani Kusumaningrum, Shefa Dwijayanti Ramadani, Fransisca Widhi Mahatmanti, Clara Ancilia Pramita Kusumasri
Indonesia ranks among the world’s largest producers of plastic waste, mainly due to extensive use of plastic in food packaging. This objective of the study was to develop and characterize edible films based on taro starch and chitosan, incorporated with lemongrass oil, and to evaluate their physicochemical and antibacterial properties as potential food packaging alternatives. Taro starch provides a biodegradable matrix, chitosan contributes antimicrobial activity through its cationic amino groups, and lemongrass oil contains phenolic and terpenoid compounds that have been reported to exhibit antibacterial properties. Nine formulations combining three concentrations of taro starch (0.25%, 0.5%, and 0.75%) and three concentrations of chitosan (3%, 4%, and 5%) with 1% lemongrass oil were prepared using the solvent-casting method. The films were tested for antibacterial activity using the agar diffusion method against Escherichia coli ATCC-25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC-6538P, and their mechanical properties (thickness, tensile strength, and elongation at break) were evaluated. Based on the antibacterial testing, all film formulations exhibited inhibitory activity, with the highest inhibition observed in treatments P8 against E. coli and P9 against S. aureus. However, the antibacterial activity remained lower than that of antibiotic controls. Increasing chitosan concentration generally increased film thickness and influenced mechanical properties. The highest tensile strength was observed in treatment P4, while the highest elongation was found in P2. In conclusion, taro starch–chitosan edible films incorporated with lemongrass oil possess promising physicochemical and antibacterial properties, supporting their potential application as sustainable food packaging materials. © 2026, Applied and Natural Science Foundation. All rights reserved.
Department of Biology Education, Universitas Tidar, Indonesia; Department of Chemistry, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia; Department of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Khaen University, Thailand
