Resumo

TREJO, Verónica; ARAGON, Nidia  e  MIRANDA, Patricia. Estimación de la permeabilidad al vapor de agua en películas a base de quitosán. Rev. Soc. Quím. Méx [online]. 2001, vol.45, n.1, pp.01-05. ISSN 0583-7693.

Chitosan as structural component of hydrophilic films shows deficient permeability properties for its application in the food industry. The objective of this contribution is to estimate the permeability to the water vapor in modified chitosan films containing sorbitol and polyethylene glycol at concentrations of 0.7 and 1.4 % as well as stearic and lauric acids at 0.3 and 0.8 %. Applying the modified method of Mc-Hugh, the permeability coefficient considered weight, thickness and area; the corrected water vapor partial pressures and thickness affect the permeability. The 2.539 g mm / m2 kPa water vapor permeability of chitosan films obtained from 2 % chitosan solutions containing 0.7 % sorbitol was the most adequate for its application.

Palavras-chave : Chitosan; hydrophilic films; permeability; water vapor.