## 3 Results and Discussion
This information helps characterise various properties, such as the phase transitions, melting points, and heat capacity, providing valuable insights into the material's thermal behaviour and stability. According to the literature, TS typically exhibits endothermic peaks in the DSC thermogram, corresponding to events such as gelatinisation and retrogradation [23]. The DSC plot of the biocomposite BC1, shown in Figure 3c, exhibits endothermic peaks at 50 \({}^{\circ}\)C and 300 \({}^{\circ}\)C. The peak at 50 \({}^{\circ}\)C observed in the DSC plot of TS corresponds to the gelatinisation process. Tapioca starch, composed of amylose and amylopetic molecules in granules, undergoes gelatinisation when exposed to heat and water. This complex thermodynamic transition involves heat absorption, disrupting hydrogen bonds, allowing water penetration, and resulting in the swelling and hydration of the starch granules. The endothermic peak in the DSC plot signifies the heat absorption required for gelatinisation, and its temperature indicates the onset of this process. The endothermic peak at 300 \({}^{\circ}\)C indicates the phase transition of the composite by evaporation or sublimation due to the decomposition of the sample and removal of amorphous carbon [23]. Thus, thermal analysis provides insights into the composite's thermal behaviour, aiding in understanding its functional properties for bioplastic packaging applications. FTIR spectroscopy is a versatile analytical technique with several advantages in analysing biocomposites. It enables comprehensive chemical composition analysis, identifying individual components and their respective functional groups. The FTIR spectra of the biocomposites BC1, BC2, and BC3 are shown in Figure 4, with their peak assignments in Table 1. The proteins often contain amide bonds, and the N-H stretching and bending vibrations typically appear in the regions around 3300 cm\({}^{-1}\) and 1600-1500 cm\({}^{-1}\), the O-H stretching vibrations appear around 3300 cm\({}^{-1}\), the carbonyl stretching vibrations appear around 1700-1750 cm\({}^{-1}\), the C=C stretching vibrations appear around 1600-1500 cm\({}^{-1}\  
and P=O stretching appears around 1000-1300 cm\({}^{-1}\)[13; 23; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29]. These functional groups indicate the possibility of the presence of various antibacterial compounds in the sample. The UV spectral study of bioplastic packaging materials provides valuable insights into their molecular compositions and structural characteristics and is particularly useful for analysing the electronic transitions of organic compounds. The broad UV-visible spectrum suggests the presence of a chromophore that absorbs in the UV-visible range. The UV-visible absorption spectrum of the composites are displayed in Figure 5. They show a broad absorption peak at 360 nm and small humps at 213 nm and 656 nm. The occurrence \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Samples**} & \\
**BC1** & **BC2** & **BC3** & **Functional Groups with References** \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{Wavenumber (cm\({}^{-1}\))} & 3283 & 3291 & 3266 & O-H stretching vibration [23] and N-H stretching secondary amines [25] \\  & 2918 & 2919 & 2916 & CH\({}_{2}\) asymmetric stretching of glucose rings [23] \\ - & - & 2850 & CH\({}_{2}\) symmetric stretching \\  & 2307 & - & - & O=C=O stretching \\  & 1728 & 1748 & C=O stretching [26] \\  & 1628 & 1620 & 1614 & C=C stretching, O-H bending, or \\  & 1417 & 1425 & 1417 & Aimide \(\downarrow\) vibrations [27] \\  & 1366 & 1367 & 1362 & C-H symmetric bending [28] \\  & 1339 & 1343 & 1339 & Methylene C-H bending [28] \\  & 1149 & 1148 & 1148 & C-C and C-O stretching [26] \\  & 1077 & 1069 & 1080 & P=O stretching of proteins [27] \\  & \textless{}1000 & \textless{}1000 & \textless{}1000 & C-O-C stretching vibrations and C-O-H bending vibrations in amylose and amylopetic [13; 29] \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: FTIR peak assignments. Figure 4: FTIR spectrum of (a) BC1, (b) BC2, and (c) BC3.