Hery Sunarsono, Hairul Abral, Adjar Pratoto, Elisabeth Feberlian Gulo, Muhammad Rizky Arrafi, Ericsandres Immanuel Sibarani, Razan Muhammad Railis, Melbi Mahardika, Ahmad Ilyas Rushdan, Mat Uzir Wahit, Dian Handayani, Neny Sandrawati, Dieter Rahmadiawan, Eni Sugiarti, Ahmad Novi Muslimin, Shih-Chen Shi
The increasing concern over plastic waste has accelerated the search for biodegradable packaging. This study used Indonesian bay leaf (Syzygium polyanthum, or daun salam, DS) extract to enhance polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films. At 1 wt% DS, the films blocked 100 % of UV and blue-violet light and up to 92.1 % of red light. Tensile strength increased by 51 %, while moisture absorption decreased by 55 % after 8 hours. The PVA/DS films remained transparent, flexible, and robust, showing strong potential for active food packaging. This highlights DS as a sustainable additive for eco-friendly packaging with improved optical and mechanical properties. © 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Andalas University, Sumatera Barat, Padang, 25163, Indonesia; Engineering Management Department, Institut Teknologi Batam, Indonesia; Industrial Engineering Department, Institut Teknologi Batam, Indonesia; Research Center for Biomass and Bioproduct, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong Bogor, Jawa Barat, 16911, Indonesia; Centre for Advanced Composite Material (CACM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, 81300, Malaysia; Laboratory of Sumatran Biota, Faculty of Pharmacy Andalas University, Sumatera Barat, Padang, 25163, Indonesia; Research Collaboration Center for Nanocellulose, BRIN - Andalas University, Padang, 25163, Indonesia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitas Negeri Padang, West Sumatera, Padang, 25173, Indonesia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan
