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AbstractThis study aims to examine the effects of product attributes during the prototype stage on customer satisfaction and intention to buy. The new product examined was cookies enriched with spirulina. The theories serving as the foundation of explanation were Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory and Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT). The current research employed a survey method. Using judgmental sampling, 316 respondents were given samples of a prototype product to experience the product realistically. The measuring items had a 7-point numerical rating scale. The data were collected and then analysed using Structural Equation Modelling with LISREL 8.7. The results showed that the cookies’ aroma, taste, colour, shape, and perceived healthiness influenced customer satisfaction and intention to buy. However, two other attributes, the texture and thickness of the cookies, did not significantly influence customer satisfaction. The findings contribute to the knowledge of customer satisfaction with a new product and the literature on food product attributes. For practitioners, this study provides a valuable analytical technique for testing a new product comprehensively before its launch.

The microalga Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina) was used for tempeh wastewater treatment. Microalga growth and the kinetics of chemical oxygen demand (COD) degradation under different light intensities (2,100 and 4,300 lux), tempeh wastewater concentrations (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5% v/v), and sodium nitrate concentrations (0, 0.75, 1, 2, 2.5 g/L) were studied. Improved cell growth in wastewater indicated that mixotrophic growth was preferred. The addition of sodium nitrate up to 2 g/L increased COD removal. The highest COD removal was 92.2%, which was obtained from cultivation with 1% v/v tempeh wastewater, 2 g/L sodium nitrate, 2,100 lux, and the specific growth rate of 0.33 ± 0.01 day−1. The COD removal followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic model with the kinetic constant of 0.3748 day−1 and the nitrate uptake rate of 0.122 g/L-day. The results can be used to design a pilot-scale tempeh wastewater treatment facility using A. platensis for tertiary treatment. Based on the kinetic model, a 20 m3 reactor can treat tempeh wastewater to reduce the COD from 400 to 100 ppm in 4 days and produces approximately 32.8 kg of dried microalgae. HIGHLIGHTS The alga Arthrospira platensis can reduce COD value in diluted tempeh wastewater up to 90% COD removal.; The addition of sodium nitrate up to 2 g/L improves the COD reduction.; The COD degradation follows a pseudo-first-order kinetic model.; The results can be used to design a pilot-scale tempeh wastewater treatment facility using A. platensis for tertiary treatment.;

This article aimed to study the effects of chitosan fiber and a newly modifying agent, based on organosolv lignin, on mechanical and thermal performances and the enzymatic degradation of PLA/chitosan biocomposites. A newly modifying agent based on polyacrylic acid-grafted organosolv lignin (PAA-g-OSL) was synthesized via free radical copolymerization using t-butyl peroxide as the initiator. The biocomposites were prepared using an internal mixer and the hot-pressed method at various fiber loadings. The results demonstrate that the addition of chitosan fiber into PLA biocomposites remarkably decreases tensile strength and elongation at break. However, it improves the Young’s modulus. The modified biocomposites clearly demonstrat an improvement in tensile strength by approximately 20%, with respect to the unmodified ones, upon the presence of PAA-g-OSL. Moreover, the thermal stability of the modified biocomposites was enhanced significantly, indicating the effectiveness of the thermal protective barrier of the lignin’s aromatic structure belonging to the modifying agent during pyrolysis. In addition, a slower biodegradation rate was exhibited by the modified biocomposites, relative to the unmodified ones, that confirms the positive effects of their improved interfacial interaction, resulting in a decreased area that was degraded through enzyme hydrolysis.

The effects of chitosan on properties of regenerated cellulose/chitosan (RC/Ch) films were investigated. The films were prepared using a sequence process of solution-casting in a lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide ionic liquid, and coagulation in water. Due to the amorphous structure of chitosan and the formation of hydrogen bonding between the functional groups of the both components, tensile strength of the films decreased considerably; however, elongation at break increased. Furthermore, SEM morphology indicated a visible separated layers comprising of rigid and ductile surfaces. The addition of chitosan clearly improved the thermal stability of the films, although the thermal degradation mechanism was not altered.