In recent years, there has been increasing interest in developing novel materials based on natural biopolymers as a renewable alternative to petroleum-based plastics. The availability of proteins derived from agricultural by-products, along with their favourable properties, has fostered a renewed interest in protein-based materials, promoting research in innovative technologies. In this study, we propose the use of rapeseed protein-rich meal as the main ingredient for the preparation of novel sustainable materials combining excellent environmental properties such as biodegradability and renewability. The application of sustainable products in the present high-tech society requires the modification of the basic native properties of these natural compounds. The original route proposed in this paper consists of preparation via the compression moulding of flexible biomaterials stabilized by crosslinkers/chain extenders. An investigation of the effects of different denaturing and disulfide bond reducing agents, crosslinkers, and preparation conditions on the material mechanical behaviour demonstrated that the novel materials have appreciable strength and stiffness. The results show the potential of utilizing full meal from vegetable by-products to prepare protein-based materials with guaranteed ecofriendly characteristics and mechanical properties adequate for specific structural applications.

This study investigates the potential of rapeseed meal (RM), a protein-rich by-product of the rapeseed oil industry, as a raw material for the development of renewable materials. Due to the presence of antinutritional compounds, rapeseed meal is underutilized, primarily in low-value applications such as animal feed. In this work, rapeseed meal protein hydrolysates were enzymatically obtained and incorporated as plasticizers into rapeseed meal-based materials to improve their mechanical properties, water permeability, and thermal stability. Collagen hydrolysate has also been utilized as a low-cost additive to further enhance the material performance. The glycerol content was reduced to address permeability and migration issues associated with hydrophilic plasticizers. The results demonstrated that the incorporation of hydrolysates into rapeseed meal-based materials modulated thermal stability, water permeability, and mechanical properties—particularly elongation at break and flexibility. The latter increased proportionally with the hydrolysate content of RM-based materials. Additionally, aerobic biodegradation behavior, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) supported the material’s favorable performance characteristics, highlighting the potential of rapeseed meal as a viable, biodegradable alternative for sustainable materials in industrial applications.

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in developing novel materials based on natural biopolymers as a renewable alternative of petroleum-based plastics. The availability of proteins derived from agricultural by-products, along with their favourable properties, has fostered a renewed interest in protein-based materials, promoting research in innovative technologies. In this study we propose the use of rapeseed protein-rich meal as main ingredient for the preparation of novel sustainable materials combining excellent environmental properties such as biodegradability and renewable origin. Application as sustainable products in the present high-tech society needs modification of basic native properties of these natural compounds. The original route proposed in this paper consists in the preparation via compression moulding of flexible biomaterials stabilized by crosslinkers/chain extenders. Investigation of the effects of different denaturing and disulfide bond reducing agents, crosslinkers, and preparation conditions on the material mechanical behaviour demonstrated that the novel materials have appreciable strength and stiffness. The results show the potential of utilizing full meal from vegetable by-products to prepare protein-based materials with granted ecofriendly characteristics and mechanical properties adequate to specific structural applications.