Resumen Almidon nativo (AN) de arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza Bancroft)se oxido (AO) para elaborar peliculas biodegradables, modificando la concentracion de glicerol (Formulacion A, B, C, D, E), con el fin de determinar el efecto del tipo de almidon y la concentracion del plastificante sobre las propiedades fisicoquimicas y mecanicas de las peliculas. Los almidones se caracterizaron por espectroscopia infrarroja con transformada de Fourier (FTIR), microscopia electronica de barrido (MEB), difraccion de rayos X (DRX) y tecnicas volumetricas. Las peliculas elaboradas con AN presentaron mas transparencia que las obtenidas con AO a iguales proporciones del plastificante. Las peliculas de AN presentaron menor solubilidad en agua y mayor estabilidad en medios acido y alcalino, que las obtenidas con AO. El efecto del medio alcalino fue mayor que el del medio acido para los dos tipos de peliculas en todos los tratamientos. En cuanto a las propiedades mecanicas, se observo que el tipo de almidon y la cantidad de plastificante utilizado en la formulacion para la obtencion de las peliculas tienen efecto significativo (p<0,01), en la resistencia a la tension (RT) y porcentaje de elongacion (%E). Al usar AN para la obtencion de peliculas se presenta mayor valor en la RT y en promedio esta es mayor cuando se utiliza la formulacion A. Al usar AN en la obtencion de peliculas se presenta en promedio mayor %E y este es mayor cuando se usa la formulacion C. No existe interaccion entre los dos factores estudiados que afecte significativamente las propiedades mecanicas de las peliculas obtenidas. Palabras clave: oxidacion, plastificante, estabilidad, resistencia a la tension. Physicochemical and mechanical properties of film obtained from native and oxidized arracacha starch Abstract Arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza Bancroft) native starch (NS) was oxidized (OS) to develop biodegradable films by changing the concentration of glycerol (Formulation A, B, C, D, E), in order to determine the effect of starch type and concentration of plasticizer on the physicochemical and mechanical properties of the films. The starches were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and volumetric techniques. The films made with NS presented more transparency than those obtained from OS equal proportions of the plasticizer. NS films had lower water solubility and stability in acid and alkaline conditions, than those obtained with OS. The effect of alkaline conditions was higher than the acidic conditions for the two types of films in all treatments. Regarding to mechanical properties, it was observed that the type of starch and the amount of plasticizer used in the formulation to obtain the films have significant effect (p <0.01) on tensile strength (TS) and percentage of elongation (%E). When using NS for the production of films, there is a higher value in RT and on average it is higher when using the formulation. By using NS obtaining films were presented on average higher %E and it is higher when using the formulation C. Among the two factors that affect the mechanical properties of the films obtained, there was not interaction. Keywords: oxidized, plasticizer, stability, tensile strength.