An-Najah News -  An-Najah National University represented by Dr. Mohammed Sabbah, Assistant Professor at the University's Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, participated in the fifth international virtual conference "Environmental Challenges in the Arab Region", which was held via Zoom platform.

Representatives from Al-Quds University, the Palestine Academy of Sciences and Technology, and the Scientific Forum for Nature Protection in Palestine participated in the virtual conference.

Dr. Sabbah presented a research paper titled:" Bio-plastics and edible films for food packaging." The research paper highlights the importance of edible films, which can be synthesized from different carbohydrates and/or protein such as pectin, chitosan, plant, and animal proteins.

It focuses on finding out the cheap protein or polysaccharide sources to be used in preparing the edible films. Dr. Sabbah found out that using bio-plastic and edible films is a promising strategy to reduce plastic food packaging, and it t will help reduce environmental pollutions. Also, Nigella stevia protein, pectin, and chitosan showed a positive effect to enhance food shelf-life. Nanoparticles, cross-linker, plasticizer, essential oil, and many other materials have a potential effect on the functional properties of the obtained materials.