Biopolymer-based nanocomposites from poultry byproducts for packaging applications

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In recent years, increasing demand for poultry consumption is leading to an oversupply of byproducts such as feathers, skin, and organs. In 2010, Chicken Farmers of Canada processed about 2.34 billion pounds of chicken. In Canada, approximately 22 million spent laying hens are also produced yearly. Amount of usable meat barely covers the cost of handling of spent hens. In addition, more than 160 million pounds of feathers are produced in Canada each year. Proposed project targets to harvest lipids and proteins from these poultry byproducts and utilize them for the preparation of bionanocomposites for food and non-food packaging applications. Poultry byproducts are rich sources of lipids and proteins. Lipid extraction will be carried out by two different green methodologies, microwave extraction, and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. The residue, left after lipid extraction, will be subjected to extract proteins using salt/solvent extractions. The extracted and purified lipids will be used to prepare bionanocomposites, adding food grade antimicrobial agents, nano-POSS and/or nanoclays, for food packaging applications. The extracted proteins will be used to prepare bionanocomposites for non-food packaging applications. The evaluations of biomaterials in terms of moisture resistance, thermal, mechanical, and other physical properties as well as biodegradability will be carried out to optimize conditions for best packaging materials. This project will open new opportunities by developing products from a potential waste stream to replace the use of traditional, fossil fuel derived, food and non-food packaging. These bionanomaterials will reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and facilitate transition to a biobased economy. The benefits and outcomes of the proposed project are highly significant to the Canadian agriculture, poultry, food, and plastic industries. The project would result in the development and training of highly qualified personnel for the future of Canadian Advanced Technology and would keep Canada in the forefront of advanced materials production technologies from waste streams.