07. February 2020
The BIOCARB-4-FOOD project seeks, in collaboration with industry, for environmentally friendly seaweed extraction techniques with the valorization of the remaining biomass still rich in bioactive compounds, to obtain novel carbohydrate-based extracts and fiber (cellulose-based fractions and nanocellulose). Seaweeds and seagrasses are a valuable, under-exploited source for carbohydrates being key ingredients for food formulations as thickeners, stabilizers, or gelling agents. Structure,...
News · 22. January 2020
The local TV station came to IATA CSIC to present BIOCARB-4-FOOD in their programme. They fiulmed and interviewed researchers from our team.
Research articles · 21. January 2020
This work reports on the production of sustainable, cost-efficient food packaging films from unpurified agarbased extracts obtained from Gelidium sesquipedale seaweed. Unlike the purified agars, that required the addition of a plasticizer, the presence of impurities such as other polysaccharides (mainly floridean starch) and proteins exerted a plasticization effect in the unpurified agars, forming flexible films with no added plasticizer. The formation of interpenetrating ...
Research articles · 21. January 2020
This work reports on the production and characterization of agar-based extracts from the seaweed Gelidium sesquipedale by means of simple protocols based on hot water and sonication treatments. The combination of sonication with the hot water treatment reduced 4-fold the extraction time without significantly affecting the extraction yield (ca. 10–12%) and the extracts' properties. Apart from agar, the extracts contained proteins, polyphenols and minerals, which conferred them high antioxidant...
Research articles · 21. January 2020
In this work, the effects of relative humidity (RH) pre-conditioning (53% vs. 85% RH) and incorporation of cellulose fillers (from Posidonia waste biomass) on the properties and retrogradation of melt compounded starch biocomposites were investigated. Pre-conditioning at 85% RH promoted starch gelatinization during processing, leading to more amorphous materials with reduced stiffness but better barrier properties. Furthermore, these films were less stable upon storage due to greater starch...
Research articles · 21. January 2020
Posidonia oceanica waste biomass has been valorised to produce extracts by means of different methodologies and their bioactive properties have been evaluated. Water-based extracts were produced using ultrasound-assisted and hot water methods and classified according to their ethanol-affnity (E1: ethanol soluble; E2: non-soluble). Moreover, a conventional protocol with organic solvents was applied, yielding E3 extracts. Compositional and structural characterization confirmed that while E1 and...
Research articles · 13. January 2020
Simplified extraction procedures (avoiding Soxhlet treatment and/or hemicellulose removal) were evaluated to valorize waste biomass from Posidonia oceanica leaves, obtaining cellulosic fractions and nanocrystals, which were subsequently used to produce films from their aqueous suspensions. Cellulose purification significantly improved mechanical and barrier properties of the films obtained from the fractions, while the extracted nanocrystals yielded films with remarkably improved properties,...
