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Spice‐Enhanced Wheat Bran Biodegradable Bowls: Volatile Profiling and Sustainable Edible Bowl Development
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Scientists turned wheat bran, a leftover from milling flour, into edible, spice-flavored bowls that could replace single-use plastic containers. These bowls held up to hot food and liquids for over two hours without leaking, tasted good thanks to added spices, and broke down almost completely in soil within six weeks. Since plastic food containers can shed microplastics into our meals and pollute the environment for years, an edible or fully biodegradable alternative could be a simple way to cut down on that exposure while reducing food-service waste.
ABSTRACT The widespread use of single‐use plastics in the food service industry contributes substantially to persistent solid waste, microplastic pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, creating an urgent need for sustainable, biodegradable alternatives. In this study, wheat bran, an abundant agro‐industrial by‐product of wheat milling, was valorized into biodegradable edible bowls by incorporating functional spice blends to enhance structural and sensory properties. Textural analysis of dough showed significant variations among formulations, with hardness ranging from 60 to 240 N, indicating that spice composition influences gluten network development. Structural characterization using FTIR and microscopy suggested changes in starch‐protein‐fiber interactions and a more cohesive matrix after baking. Thermal analysis (TGA) showed thermal degradation onset well above typical food‐serving temperatures, indicating their suitability for hot‐food applications. The optimized formulation (BSP3) exhibited high mechanical strength (239 ± 11 N) and excellent leak resistance exceeding 140 min at both room temperature (150 ± 0.22 min at 27°C) and hot‐water conditions (144 ± 0.24 min). GC–MS/MS analysis identified increased levels of key aroma compounds, including cuminaldehyde (33.1%) and α‐terpinyl acetate (15.5%), which may have contributed to the higher sensory scores for BSP3. Soil burial tests further revealed ~94% biodegradation within 42 days, indicating high biodegradation potential under the tested soil burial conditions. Overall, this study demonstrates a scalable approach for converting wheat bran into functional biodegradable tableware, supporting circular bioeconomy strategies and reducing reliance on plastic‐based food‐service products.
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