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Recent Advances in Biopolymer Applications in the Food Industry
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Recent Advances in Biopolymer Applications in the Food Industry

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Physics and (Bio)Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2021) | Viewed by 20669

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Vitor D. Alves

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LEAF—Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: biodegradable films for food packaging; edible coatings; microencapsulation of bioactive ingredients; rheological characterization of microbial biopolymers; valorization of agro-industrial residues
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Naturally occurring biopolymers have attracted significant attention in the food industry due to their versatile properties, such as their nontoxicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, along with their abundance and sustainability. These biopolymers include polysaccharides and proteins recovered from biomass (such as chitosan, cellulose, alginate, starch, pectin, galactomannans, gelatin, and whey protein) and polymers produced by microorganisms (such as xanthan, gellan, and bacterial cellulose).

Their diverse chemical, physical, and biological properties allow these materials to have multipurpose applications, such as food structure design (e.g., as thickeners, gelling agents, emulsion and foam stabilizers), encapsulation of bioactive compounds at the micro- and nanoscale (e.g., in particles, emulsions, fibers), as functional ingredients and health-promoting agents (e.g., regulation of gut microbiota), and as materials for edible coating production. In addition to that, bio-based polymers have been intensively explored in the design of biodegradable films intended for packaging of specific food products.

With the present Special Issue, we intend to gather recent advances regarding the use of emergent biopolymers, as well as different strategies (materials combination, new formulations, different processes) for biopolymers’ applications in food products, including biodegradable packaging materials.

Dr. Vitor Alves
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Polysaccharides
  • Proteins
  • Food formulations
  • Bioactive compounds’ encapsulation
  • Gelling agents
  • Thickening agents
  • Texture
  • Biodegradable films
  • Edible coatings
  • Food packaging

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1219 KiB  
Article
Design of Chitosan and Alginate Emulsion-Based Formulations for the Production of Monolayer Crosslinked Edible Films and Coatings
by Tiago M. Vieira, Margarida Moldão-Martins and Vítor D. Alves
Foods 2021, 10(7), 1654; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071654 - 17 Jul 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4226
Abstract
This study aimed to develop edible monolayer emulsion-based barriers with polysaccharides as film-forming components (chitosan and sodium alginate), soy lecithin as a surfactant and olive oil as a hydrophobic barrier. Monolayer barriers in the form of films were prepared by casting filmogenic emulsions [...] Read more.
This study aimed to develop edible monolayer emulsion-based barriers with polysaccharides as film-forming components (chitosan and sodium alginate), soy lecithin as a surfactant and olive oil as a hydrophobic barrier. Monolayer barriers in the form of films were prepared by casting filmogenic emulsions composed of 2% w/v chitosan (dissolved in lactic acid 1% v/v) or 1% w/v sodium alginate, with different lipid contents (25, 50 and 100% w/w biopolymer basis) and different surfactant concentrations (5, 10 and 25% w/w, lipid basis). Glycerol was used as a plasticizer (25 % w/w, biopolymer basis). After the emulsion drying process, the obtained stand-alone films were sprayed with a crosslinking solution, achieving an optimized crosslinker content of 3.2 mgCa2+/cm2 alginate film and 4 mg tripolyphosphate/cm2 chitosan film. The effect of oil and lecithin contents, as well the presence of crosslinking agents, on the film’s water vapour permeability (WVP), water vapour sorption capacity, mechanical properties and colour parameters, was evaluated. The results have shown that the lowest WVP values were obtained with formulations containing 25% lipid and 25% surfactant for chitosan films, and 100% lipid and 25% surfactant for alginate films. The application of the crosslinking agents decreased even further the WVP, especially for chitosan films (by 30%). Crosslinking also increased films’ resistance to deformation under tensile tests. Overall, the films developed present a good potential as polysaccharide-based barriers with increased resistance to water, which envisages the use of the designed formulations to produce either edible/biodegradable films or edible coatings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Biopolymer Applications in the Food Industry)
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20 pages, 2216 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Natural Antioxidants Extraction from Pineapple Peel and Their Stabilization by Spray Drying
by Sofia C. Lourenço, Débora A. Campos, Ricardo Gómez-García, Manuela Pintado, M. Conceição Oliveira, Diana I. Santos, Luiz C. Corrêa-Filho, Margarida Moldão-Martins and Vítor D. Alves
Foods 2021, 10(6), 1255; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10061255 - 01 Jun 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 8624
Abstract
Pineapple peel still contains an important amount of phenolic compounds and vitamins with valuable antioxidant activity. In this way, the aim of this study was the recovery of the bioactive compounds from pineapple peel using environmentally friendly and low-cost techniques, envisaging their application [...] Read more.
Pineapple peel still contains an important amount of phenolic compounds and vitamins with valuable antioxidant activity. In this way, the aim of this study was the recovery of the bioactive compounds from pineapple peel using environmentally friendly and low-cost techniques, envisaging their application in food products. From the solid-liquid extraction conditions tested, the one delivering an extract with higher total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity was a single extraction step with a solvent-pineapple peel ratio of 1:1 (w/w) for 25 min at ambient temperature, using ethanol-water (80–20%) as a solvent. The resulting extract revealed a total phenolic content value of 11.10 ± 0.01 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry extract, antioxidant activity of 91.79 ± 1.98 µmol Trolox/g dry extract by the DPPH method, and 174.50 ± 9.98 µmol Trolox/g dry extract by the FRAP method. The antioxidant rich extract was subjected to stabilization by the spray drying process at 150 °C of inlet air temperature using maltodextrin (5% w/w) as an encapsulating agent. The results showed that the antioxidant capacity of the encapsulated compounds was maintained after encapsulation. The loaded microparticles obtained, which consist of a bioactive powder, present a great potential to be incorporated in food products or to produce bioactive packaging systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Biopolymer Applications in the Food Industry)
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13 pages, 3373 KiB  
Article
Nisin-Loaded Ulvan Particles: Preparation and Characterization
by Ruta Gruskiene, Tatjana Kavleiskaja, Ramune Staneviciene, Stefanos Kikionis, Efstathia Ioannou, Elena Serviene, Vassilios Roussis and Jolanta Sereikaite
Foods 2021, 10(5), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10051007 - 04 May 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2954
Abstract
Nisin is an attractive alternative to chemical preservatives in the food industry. It is a cationic peptide of 34 amino acid residues that exhibits antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. To ensure nisin stability in food matrices, new nisin-loaded ulvan particles were developed by [...] Read more.
Nisin is an attractive alternative to chemical preservatives in the food industry. It is a cationic peptide of 34 amino acid residues that exhibits antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. To ensure nisin stability in food matrices, new nisin-loaded ulvan particles were developed by the complexation method. The interaction of nisin with ulvan was demonstrated by FT-IR spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The encapsulation efficiency was calculated at different pH values within the range of 4.0–7.0 and was found to have the highest value at pH 7.0. The size and surface charge of particles fabricated at different concentrations of nisin and pH values were determined. Nisin-loaded ulvan particles exhibited antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria comparable to that of free nisin. Therefore, the developed complexes have the potential for application as biopreservatives in the food industry. For the first time, the potential of ulvan as a carrier of antimicrobial agent nisin was demonstrated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Biopolymer Applications in the Food Industry)
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17 pages, 2510 KiB  
Article
Composite Coatings of Chitosan and Alginate Emulsions with Olive Oil to Enhance Postharvest Quality and Shelf Life of Fresh Figs (Ficus carica L. cv. ‘Pingo De Mel’)
by Tiago M. Vieira, Margarida Moldão-Martins and Vítor D. Alves
Foods 2021, 10(4), 718; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10040718 - 29 Mar 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3345
Abstract
Fresh figs are very appreciated and have been associated with health benefits. However, these fruits are highly perishable. In this study, edible coatings were studied envisaging their positive effect in enhancing figs’ shelf-life. Fig fruits cv. ‘Pingo de mel’ were harvested at commercial [...] Read more.
Fresh figs are very appreciated and have been associated with health benefits. However, these fruits are highly perishable. In this study, edible coatings were studied envisaging their positive effect in enhancing figs’ shelf-life. Fig fruits cv. ‘Pingo de mel’ were harvested at commercial ripening stage and single emulsion-based coatings, composed of chitosan + olive oil and alginate + olive oil, were applied. After coatings application by dipping each fruit in the emulsion-based solutions at 4 °C and drying, the coated fruits were sprayed with crosslinking solutions (6% tripolyphosphate and 1% calcium chloride for chitosan and alginate-based coatings, respectively). Then, were maintained at 4 °C and analyzed after 1, 7, 14 and 19 days of storage. After each time interval, fruits were further maintained at 25 °C for 2 days. The results have shown that coatings were effective on delaying fungal decay and postharvest ripening indicators (respiration rate, mass loss, softening and total soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio). The results foresee a fruits’ shelf life between 14 and 19 days under refrigeration at 4 °C that may be followed up to 2 days at ambient temperature, higher than that estimated for uncoated fruits (less than 14 days at 4 °C plus to 2 days at ambient temperature). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Biopolymer Applications in the Food Industry)
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