IN Brief:
- USP and Embrapa researchers extracted gelatin from tambatinga fish skins.
- Films were transparent, flexible, and showed strong UV blocking and low vapour permeability.
- Moisture sensitivity currently limits use cases to dehydrated foods.
Researchers in Brazil have developed a biodegradable packaging biofilm using gelatin extracted from the skin of tambatinga, an Amazonian fish bred from tambaqui and pirapitinga. The work targets a familiar packaging problem: replacing petroleum-based flexible films with materials that still deliver basic barrier performance, while turning a fish-processing byproduct into a higher-value input.
The team, based at the University of São Paulo (USP) and Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, produced gelatin from cleaned fish skins using a process involving chemical treatment and heated extraction, then formed films using a film-forming solution containing gelatin and glycerol as a plasticiser. The resulting material was described as transparent and flexible with a uniform surface — a baseline requirement if it is to run on packaging machinery without tearing, cracking, or creating obvious defects.
Performance claims focus on barrier behaviour. The researchers reported high resistance and improved ultraviolet blocking, alongside lower water vapour permeability compared with other gelatin-based films described in the literature. In the underlying study, the tambatinga skin gelatin showed a gel strength in the range associated with usable mechanical performance, and the film recipes were evaluated at different plasticiser levels to balance flexibility against permeability.
The work is not being sold as a universal plastic drop-in. Moisture remains the constraint, which is a recurring limitation for protein-based films: water interacts readily with polar groups in the matrix, softening structure and changing barrier behaviour.
“For that reason, for now, they can only be used in dehydrated products, such as nuts and chestnuts,” said Paulo José do Amaral Sobral, a professor of food engineering at USP, who has worked on biopolymer films for decades.
The team’s longer-term objective is to broaden applicability across food packaging and adjacent sectors, including pharmaceuticals and biomedical uses, but the near-term packaging target is clear: dry products where moisture uptake is limited, and where UV protection and reduced reliance on synthetic films can justify the material change.
