Development of Food Container Forming Machine from Natural Materials

การพัฒนาเครื่องขึ้นรูปภาชนะบรรจุอาหารจากวัสดุธรรมชาติ

Abstract

         The objectives of this research were to design and develop a food container forming machine and molds for fabricating food containers from natural materials. The food container forming machine was designed to fabricate natural materials by using an electric coil-heated hot press with an electrical operating mechanism control system. The heat transfer efficiency of the container forming machine was studied along with the properties of the natural materials containers, including physical properties, safety assessment, and user satisfaction. There are 5 types of natural materials studied including lotus leaves, banana leaves, spathe of betel nut, bamboo leaves, and water hyacinth leaves. It was found that they all could be used as raw materials for container fabrication. The spathe of betel nut containers showed superior properties for being strong, thick, and capable of containing foods with higher weight compared to other natural materials, with the thickness of 2.24 mm, a density of 0.81 g/cm³, and a permeability percentage of 16%. Safety qualification experiments revealed less than 1 CFU/ml. A consumer acceptance study demonstrated that the spathe of betel nut containers received positive feedback for its general appearance, overall appearance, suitability, color, and texture. In conclusion, using the spathes of betel nut for forming food containers proved to be suitable, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly, as it did not cause pollution to the environment.