With the growing awareness about cleaner surroundings, using natural materials in textile dyeing has been developed recently. In this way, in this research, one of the galls of the oak tree named Sichka was selected as a sample of cultural waste, and the optimal conditions of wool dyeing were investigated for the first time. The results show that sichka is a vast source of polyphenolic and tannins compounds and then can be considered an excellent candidate for wool dyeing and produced outstanding antibacterial properties. Results indicate that for the conditions used in our experiments, the optimum dyeing conditions are dye concentration of 45 % at the temperature of 80 ºC, time of 60 min, and pH of 4. 5. The results also show that the wheat barn and citric acid were used as the bio-mordants to increase the affinity of wool yarns to the dye extract and improve dye fastness properties. It provides an excellent way to protect the ecosystem as much as possible and a space for new businesses with value-added.

Bioplastics are biodegradable polymers of biological origin. The exhausting fossil resources and ever increasing environmental pollution caused by plastics derived from these resources is driving the growth of the bio plastic industry. There is increasing focus on developing low cost and durable bio based plastics, with a wide range of applicability. Currently, a majority of raw material for bioplastics production comes from agricultural crops, which indirectly poses threat to food security. Hence using organic wastes from biological origins, will not only limit our dependency on agricultural crops, but may also assist in solid waste management, in an effective manner. Industries, particularly food and agriculture sector, produce significant amounts of organic wastes, which can be harnessed for this purpose. It will also reduce the cost of production to a remarkable extent. Hence, this review focuses on the types of bio based plastics and gives an insight on biological wastes that can be utilized to produce such plastics. It is indeed, the need of time to intensify innovations and research in this field to overcome the hindrances and developing viable processes for manufacturing bio based plastics. This environmentally friendly approach can remove our dependency from fossil based conventional polymers and will lead us to a much more sustainable future.

The bioactive compounds in extracts are prone to degradation by oxidation, heat, or light. Nanoencapsulation is one of the best techniques to keep the properties of these chemical compounds. The aim of this study was the extraction of Melissa officinalis (MO) and nanoencapsulation of the extract via chitosan as a biodegradable polymer. In this research, extraction of MO was investigated using various extraction methods and nanoencapsulation with MO extract was carried out via ionic gelation technique. The effectiveness of the extracts was evaluated by measuring the total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity, and extraction efficiency of the solid contents. The highest efficiency was achieved for microwave-assisted extraction with the utmost values in each parameter. (TSC) was 22.81% and amounts of the TPC and antioxidant activity were 311.94 mg Gallic acid and 36 mg diphenyl picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) per 1g of the plant, respectively.  Morphology study by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) indicated spherical shape nanoparticles with a diameter of 25nm. The size of the nanoparticles was evaluated by the Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) technique for various concentrations of the used extracts in the encapsulation process. For 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 mg /mL concentration, mean diameters were 24, 118, and 145 nm, respectively. Results indicated that microwave-assisted extraction was the best extraction method for MO and the encapsulation of MO extract could be created successfully with different particle sizes for the protection of bioactive compounds. Since MO is a beneficial herbal plant, the development of this research is recommended.

The search for environmentally friendly materials that can replace synthetic plastics is still relevant. In this work, we have for the first time conducted a detailed study of films based on industrial-scale biodegradable polymers/starch acetate (AcSt) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The PVA content in the film compositions ranged from 0 to 30% (by weight based on the total polymer weight). The film structures were evaluated by XRD, FTIR spectroscopy, and SEM methods. We also investigated the properties important for practical use of polymer films: the swelling degree, water vapor permeability, oil permeability, tensile strength, elongation-at-break, biodegradability, and phytotoxicity. The results showed that AcSt and PVA display sufficiently good compatibility in the blends and form continuous and smooth films. The increased PVA content in the compositions improved the mechanical characteristics of the films. The PVA additions (15–, 30% by weight based on the total polymer weight) reduced oil permeability of the samples. All the obtained films met the biodegradability criteria according to the International Standard ISO 846: 1997-Plastics-Evaluation of the action of microorganisms. The seed germination test showed that the films exhibited zero phytotoxicity. The films with a PVA content of 25–, 30% (by weight based on the total polymer weight) can be an ecofriendly and low-cost alternative to some synthetic coating and packaging films.