The objective of the study was to obtain a new biodegradable graft polymer by performing two chemical processes: first, a transesterification reaction between carboxylic acid’s salt and ethyl acrylate’s ester, followed by polymerization of the vinyl group from the ethyl acrylate monomer via free radicals. The copolymer’s FTIR shows an absence of ethyl bands, while the characteristic band of pyranose is maintained, which confirms the monomer’s graft. TGA analysis shows that sodium alginate had three decomposition temperatures: 103 °C due to dehydration, 212 °C associated with the destruction of glycosidic bonds, and 426 °C due to conversion of alginate into Na₂CO₃. The copolymer presents four processes at different temperatures, i.e., evaporation of alcohol at 65 °C, decomposition of ungrafted alginate at 220 °C, copolymer decomposition at 298 °C, and degradation of fragments into carbonate at 423 °C. The evaluation of the action of fungal growth on the copolymer was higher than 50%, which means it is an excellent material to be biodegraded.

The development of sustainable extraction methods to obtain natural products constitutes a challenge for the food industry. The aim of this work was to compare yield, separation efficiency, chemical composition, and physicochemical properties of the mucilage extracted from fresh cladodes (FNM) and mucilage extracted from dehydrated cladodes (DNM) of O. ficus indica. Suspensions of fresh and dehydrated cladodes (4% w/w) were prepared for mucilage extraction by using a mechanical separation process. Subsequently, the separated mucilage was precipitated with ethyl alcohol (1:2 v/v) then, yield and separation efficiency were determined. The mucilage was characterized by measuring Z potential, viscosity, color, and texture attributes. Additionally, chemical proximate analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were conducted. No significant differences (p < 0.05) were detected in the yield and separation efficiencies between samples. Nevertheless, the dehydration process of cladodes prior to mucilage extraction increased protein, ashes, nitrogen free extract, and calcium content. The viscosity was higher in DNM than in FNM. The TGA revealed a different thermal behavior between samples. In addition, the DNM showed lower L (darkness/lightness), cohesiveness, adhesiveness, and springiness values than those of FNM. These results support that differences found between the chemical and physicochemical properties of DNM and those of FNM will determine the applications of the mucilage obtained from the O. ficus indica cladodes in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.

Edible nano-coatings were applied in strawberry with the end goal of preserving quality by 21 days of storage at 4 °C. The beeswax solid lipid nanoparticles (BSLN) were prepared by high-energy homogenization, BSLN had a monomodal dispersion with average particle sizes of 214–227 nm and zeta potential of −30 mV. Four coatings were tested: 0, 10, 20, and 30 g/L of BSLN dispersion, all these edible coatings contained xanthan gum (XG) (3 g/L) and propylene glycol (5 g/L) and contrasted with strawberries without any treatment. The best behavior was achieved with 10 g/L of BSLN showing the lowest weight loss (6.1%), a decay index of (31%), loss of firmness (34%), and ΔE = 11. It was established that a concentration of 30 g/L of BSLN caused physiological damage. Based on the findings found, it can be said that nano-coatings with 10 g/L of BSLN-XG are an excellent alternative in the conservation and to increase of shelf life of strawberry stored in refrigeration. In the present case, it was 10 g/L of BSL. Highlighting the importance to evaluate the best concentration in relation to the fruit characteristics.