A team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has developed an eco-friendly packaging film derived from cucumber peels.

Inventors of the film determined that cucumber — a popular food item in India — peels contained enough cellulose content and barrier properties to serve as a durable food packaging film alternative to commonly used, and environmentally unfriendly, plastic packaging.

Through a technique called acid hydrolysis, water-soluble, alkali-soluble and acid soluble molecules were extracted from the cucumber peels. Once extracted, cellulose nanocrystals with low oxygen permeability were also extracted, proving durable enough for food packaging film applications.

“Cellulose nanocrystals are organic fillers that provide strength to the material and enhance the function of biopolymers. Using this we created a film-like material and wrapped it around different vegetables. Then, we ran more tests to determine its strength, how long it can keep the vegetable from spoiling, and how long it takes to degrade,” explained lead researcher Jayeeta Mitra.

The IIT Kharagpur team believes that following additional research, the cucumber peels could one day be used as packaging material film for food, vegetables and liquids and as a waterproof coating for paper.