Biodegradable mulch films for strawberry production

To produce high-quality strawberries, practices such as mulching and irrigation are essential. The purpose of this work was to develop black and white biodegradable films by extrusion from cassava starch and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) blends to use as mulching film in strawberry production. The films were assayed for mechanical properties, water vapor permeability and adsorption isotherms. The average mass of the fresh fruit was measured to evaluate differences between commercial and biodegradable films. The PBAT film showed small cracks in the structure five weeks after being laid onto the ground and, eight weeks afterwards, the maximum tensile strength, elongation at break and water sorption were reduced. However, these changes in the film structure did not influence the quality and amount of the fresh produce. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.