Concentration of tea extracts by osmotic evaporation: optimisation of process parameters and effect on antioxidant activity

In this work, the concentration process of three different tea extracts (medicinal Rosil No. 6, Black, and Forest Fruit teas) using the osmotic evaporation (OE) process, was studied. The effect of the OE process on the content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity was evaluated. The concentration process was carried out in a hollow-fibre membrane contactor with an effective surface area of 0.54 m2. The tea extract was circulated through the shell side of the contactor, while a concentrated osmotic solution (CaCl2 5 M) was circulated inside the fibres. The flux, the driving force, and the mass transfer coefficient were evaluated. A decrease of the water flux over time was observed and was attributed only to the decrease of the driving force, caused by the dilution of the osmotic solution. Using a surface area/feed volume ratio of 774 m2 m3, it is possible to reach a tea concentration of 40% (w/w) in 5 h, with a constant water flux and without losing the phenolic content and antioxidant potential in most teasinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Decolorization of a corn fiber arabinoxylan extract and formulation of biodegradable films for food packaging

UID/AGR/04129/2020Corn fiber from the corn starch industry is a by-product produced in large quantity that is mainly used in animal feed formulations, though it is still rich in valuable components, such as arabinoxylans, with proven film-forming ability. During arabinoxylans’ recovery under alkaline extraction, a dark-colored biopolymer fraction is obtained. In this work, a purified arabinoxylan extract from corn fiber with an intense brownish color was decolorized using hydrogen peroxide as the decolorizing agent. Biodegradable films prepared by casting the decolorized extract exhibited a light-yellow color, considered more appealing, envisaging their application in food packaging. Films were prepared with glycerol as plasticizer and citric acid as cross-linker. Although the cross-linking reaction was not effective, films presented antioxidant activity, a water vapor permeability similar to that of non-decolorized films, and other polysaccharides’ and mechanical properties that enable their application as packaging materials of low-water-content food products.publishersversionpublishe

A novel cellulose-based polymer for efficient removal of methylene blue

UID/QUI/50006/2019A novel cellulose-based cross-linked polymer, dicarboxymethyl cellulose (DCMC), has been synthesized and used for methylene blue (MB) removal. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nitrogen porosimetry, and optical microscopy were employed to characterize the structure of the cellulose-based adsorbent. The number of carboxylate groups per gram of polymer (CG) was calculated with sodium content determined by ICP-AES. Systematic equilibrium and kinetic adsorption studies were performed to assess the polymer suitability for dye removal. The effect of pH on its adsorption capacity was also studied and the equilibrium adsorption data was analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Sips isotherms. At pH = 3, the adsorption isotherms followed the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 887.6 mg/g. At pH = 6.4, the adsorption isotherms produced S-shape curves and were best fitted with the Sips model. The maximum MB uptake increased to 1354.6 mg/g. Pseudo first-order and second-order models were used to fit the kinetic data. A pseudo second-order kinetic model provided the best correlation for the adsorption of MB onto DCMC. Adsorption coupled with membrane filtration achieved 95% methylene blue removal and DCMC can be successfully regenerated and reused in consecutive experiments.publishersversionpublishe

Recovery and Purification of Cutin from Tomato By-Products for Application in Hydrophobic Films

UID/AGR/04129/2020. Sociedade Ponto Verde—Sociedade Gestora de Resíduos de Embalagens, S.A., through the project entitled “Bioplastics and Edible, Vegan Films”. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Tomato pomace is a low-cost, renewable resource that has been studied for the extraction of the biopolyester cutin, which is mainly composed of long-chain hydroxy fatty acids. These are excellent building blocks to produce new hydrophobic biopolymers. In this work, the monomers of cutin were extracted and isolated from tomato pomace and utilized to produce cutin-based films. Several strategies for the depolymerization and isolation of monomeric cutin were explored. Strategies differed in the state of the raw material at the beginning of the extraction process, the existence of a tomato peel dewaxing step, the type of solvent used, the type of alkaline hydrolysis, and the isolation method of cutin monomers. These strategies enabled the production of extracts enriched in fatty acids (16-hydroxyhexadecanoic, hexadecanedioic, stearic, and linoleic, among others). Cutin and chitosan-based films were successfully cast from cutin extracts and commercial chitosan. Films were characterized regarding their thickness (0.103 ± 0.004 mm and 0.106 ± 0.005 mm), color, surface morphology, water contact angle (93.37 ± 0.31° and 95.15 ± 0.53°), and water vapor permeability ((3.84 ± 0.39) × 10−11 mol·m/m2·s·Pa and (4.91 ± 1.33) × 10−11 mol·m/m2·s·Pa). Cutin and chitosan-based films showed great potential to be used in food packaging and provide an application for tomato processing waste.publishersversionpublishe

Purification of Arabinoxylans from corn fiber and preparation of bioactive films for food packaging

Corn fiber, a by-product of the starch industry, is presently incorporated in animal feed. However, it has arabinoxylans as added-value components (besides ferulic acid) that should be valorized. In this work, the raw material, a fraction enriched in arabinoxylans from corn fiber, previously produced by alkaline extraction from corn fiber and pre-concentrated by ultrafiltration, was further purified. The use of ultrafiltration operated in diafiltration mode (dia-ultrafiltration) was evaluated for the purification of the arabinoxylans fraction. The objective was to maximize the removal of the small contaminants from the fraction and to maximize the permeability and/or the permeate flux, by selecting the relevant operating conditions involved in this process. The removal of contaminants (%) was estimated when their apparent rejection stabilized. Edible films were produced, from the resultant purified arabinoxylans fraction, using glycerol as plasticizer (30% dry basis). Additionally, films with the incorporation of ferulic acid were developed, in order to obtain barriers with antioxidant activity. The films were characterized in terms of mechanical properties, antioxidant activity and permeability to water vapor. The films prepared presented a good potential to be used as packaging for food products with low water contentinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biodegradable chitosan films with ZnO nanoparticles synthesized using food industry by-products—production and characterization

UIDB/04077/2020 PTDC/BTM‐SAL/29335/2017 UIDB/04138/2020 UIDP/04138/2020 grant (2020.04441.BD) of C.R.This work aimed to produce bionanocomposites of chitosan incorporated with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) synthesized using food industry by-products and to characterize them. Such nanoparticles are highlighted due to their low cost, antimicrobial activity, accessibility, and sustainability synthesis. Four different levels of ZnO NPs (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% w/w of chitosan) were tested, and the bionanocomposites were characterized in terms of their hydrophobicity, mechanical, optical, and barrier properties. Overall, the incorporation of ZnO NPs changed the composites from brittle to ductile, with enhanced elongation at break and reduced Young Modulus and tensile strength. Thus, ZnO NPs acted as plasticizer, turning the films more flexible, due to the presence of organic compounds on the NPs. This also favored permeability of oxygen and of water vapor, but the good barrier properties were maintained. Optical properties did not change statistically with the ZnO NPs incorporation. Thus, the characterization presented in this paper may contribute to support a decision on the choice of the material’s final application.publishersversionpublishe

Biodegradable Barrier Membranes Based on Nanoclays and Carrageenan/Pectin Blends

The aim of this work is the study of the barrier properties of biodegradable membranes based on commercial pectin and kappa-carrageenan and organically modified nanoclays. Membranes (67% k-carrageenan, 33% pectin) with different amounts of nanoclays (1, 5 and 10%) were prepared by the solution intercalation method and casting. The films exhibited enhanced gas and water vapour barrier properties when compared to the ones without nanoclay particles. A water vapour permeability reduction of 35% for a nanoclay loading of 10 % was observed. The positive impact on the films’ barrier properties of the organic nanoclay particles inclusion, results from a combined effect of increased tortuosity and reduction of water sorption due to the hydrophobic nature of the clay. The permeability to carbon dioxide has been significantly reduced (50% reduction for 1% nanoclay content).Scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis indicated the presence of under exfoliated nanoclay aggregates at 10%. The membranes have also shown a decrease of their stiffness and an increase of the elongation at break with the inclusion of nanoclay particles. An attenuation of the membranes transparency was observed, however, the colour measured after the application of test membranes on coloured paper sheets, did not change significantly with the inclusion of nanoclay particles

Chitosan composites in packaging industry-current trends and future challenges

This work has been supported by FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UID/EMS/04077/2019 and UIDP/04077/2020. This work has also been supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UID/QUI/50006/2019 and UIDB/50006/2020).Chitosan-based composites play an important role in food packaging applications and can be used either as films or as edible coatings. Due to their high costs and lower performance (i.e., lower barrier against water vapor, thermal, and mechanical properties) when compared to the traditional petroleum-based plastics, the use of such biopolymers in large-scale is still limited. Several approaches of chitosan composites in the packaging industry are emerging to overcome some of the disadvantages of pristine polymers. Thus, this work intends to present the current trends and the future challenges towards production and application of chitosan composites in the food packaging industry.publishersversionpublishe

Overview of Membrane Science and Technology in Portugal

Funding Information: Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge Tiago Araújo for his valuable contribution in writing—original draft preparation—the carbon molecular sieve membranes content. LCT is grateful to Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT/MCTES) for her assistant researcher contract under Scientific Employment Stimulus (2020.01555.CEECIND). DMFS thanks FCT/MCTES for a research contract in the scope of programmatic funding UIDP/04540/2020. Funding Information: Funding: This work was supported by Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry—LAQV, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020), Research project PTDC/EQU-EPQ/29579/2017 funded by FCT/MCTES “Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa, FEDER”, project Nanoart PTDC/CTM-BIO/6178/2014 and CeFEMA with grant number 325UID/CTM/04540/2013 funded by FCT/MCTES. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Membrane research in Portugal is aligned with global concerns and expectations for sustainable social development, thus progressively focusing on the use of natural resources and renewable energy. This review begins by addressing the pioneer work on membrane science and technology in Portugal by the research groups of Instituto Superior Técnico—Universidade de Lisboa (IST), NOVA School of Science and Technology—Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCT NOVA) and Faculdade de Engenharia—Universidade do Porto (FEUP) aiming to provide an historical perspective on the topic. Then, an overview of the trends and challenges in membrane processes and materials, mostly in the last five years, involving Portuguese researchers, is presented as a contribution to a more sustainable water–energy–material–food nexus.publishersversionpublishe

Eco-friendly ZnO/chitosan bionanocomposites films for packaging of fresh poultry meat

UID/EMS/04077/2019 UID/QUI/50006/2019 UID/QUI/00100/2019 Contrato No: IST-ID/154/2018) under Decree-Law No. 57/2016 and 57/2017.The advances on the development of novel materials capable to enhance the shelf life of food products may contribute to reduce the current worldwide food waste problem. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are considered GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and due to their good antimicrobial properties are suitable to be applied as active compounds in food packaging. ZnO NPs were synthesized to be tested in active bionanocomposites through an eco-friendlier route using apple peel wastes. This work aimed to develop bionanocomposites based on chitosan and incorporated with ZnO NPs to characterize its bioactivity via in vitro and in situ studies, using fresh poultry meat as the food matrix. Overall, bio-based biodegradable films presented good antimicrobial activity, being the intrinsic antimicrobial properties of chitosan enhanced by the ZnO NPs added on the system. When used as primary packaging of the meat, the samples protected with the films presented a decrease on the deterioration speed, which was represented by the preservation of the initial reddish color of the meat and reduction on the oxidation process and microbiological growth. The nanoparticles enhanced especially the antioxidant properties of the films and proved to be potential food preservatives agents to be used in active food packaging.publishersversionpublishe