C-Phycocyanin is a natural blue dye used in food and pharmaceutical industry. In the present study, a simple and efficient method to extract C-phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis wet biomass is reported. The extractions were carried out using six different methods, including chemical (organic and inorganic acid treatment), physical (freezing and thawing, sonication, homogenization) and enzymatic (lysozyme treatment) methods. The extraction using ultrasonic bath in the presence of glass pearls in the biomass proved to be the most efficient method, 56% higher than using freezing and thawing (the method most frequently used), and presented a extraction yield of 43.75 mg.g-1 and a C-phycocyanin concentration of 0.21 mg.mL-1.

Carrageenan-based active packaging film was prepared by adding olive leaf extract (OLE) as a bioactive agent to the lamb meat packaging. The OLE was characterized in terms of its phenolic compounds (T.ph), antioxidant activity (AA), oleuropein, and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against Escherichia coli. The film’s formulation consisted of carrageenan, glycerol as a plasticizer, water as a solvent, and OLE. The effects of the OLE on the thickness, water vapor permeability (WVP), tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (EB), elastic modulus (EM), color, solubility, and antimicrobial capacity of the carrageenan film were determined. The OLE had the following excellent characteristics: the T.ph value was 115.96 mg_GAE∙g⁻¹ (d.b), the AA was 89.52%, the oleuropein value was 11.59 mg∙g⁻¹, and the MIC was 50 mg∙mL⁻¹. The results showed that the addition of OLE increased the thickness, EB, and WVP, and decreased the TS and EM of the film. The solubility was not significantly affected by the OLE. The color difference with the addition of OLE was 64.72%, which had the benefit of being a barrier to oxidative processes related to light. The film with the OLE was shown to have an antimicrobial capacity during the storage of lamb meat, reducing the count of psychrophiles five-fold when compared to the samples packed by the control and commercial films; therefore, this novel film has the potential to increase the shelf life of lamb meat, and as such, is suitable for use as active packaging.

C-phycocyanin is a natural blue dye that has been used as an additive in food and can be used to produce medications. The major goal of the present study was to obtain C-phycocyanin under the best operational conditions for high C-phycocyanin recovery and purity using the precipitation technique. Crude C-phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis was used. Optimization of the purification was carried out using experimental design. The effect of ammonium sulfate concentration, volume and of pH for resuspension were evaluated. Subsequently an ammonium sulfate fractionation study was carried out using the most suitable conditions found in the experimental design. The best purification condition was ammonium sulfate fractionation at 0-20%/20-50%, in relation to a resuspension volume/initial volume of 0.52 in a 7.0 pH buffer. Under these conditions, in an one-step purification only, the purity increased 70% compared to the initial extract, with an 83.8% recovery.

The harmful effects on the environment caused by the indiscriminate use of synthetic plastics and the inadequate management of post-consumer waste have given rise to efforts to redirect this consumption to bio-based economic models. In this sense, using biopolymers to produce materials is a reality for food packaging companies searching for technologies that allow these materials to compete with those from synthetic sources. This review paper focused on the recent trends in multilayer films with the perspective of using biopolymers and natural additives for application in food packaging. Firstly, the recent developments in the area were presented concisely. Then, the main biopolymers used (gelatin, chitosan, zein, polylactic acid) and main methods for multilayer film preparation were discussed, including the layer-by-layer, casting, compression, extrusion, and electrospinning methods. Furthermore, we highlighted the bioactive compounds and how they are inserted in the multilayer systems to form active biopolymeric food packaging. Furthermore, the advantages and drawbacks of multilayer packaging development are also discussed. Finally, the main trends and challenges in using multilayer systems are presented. Therefore, this review aims to bring updated information in an innovative approach to current research on food packaging materials, focusing on sustainable resources such as biopolymers and natural additives. In addition, it proposes viable production routes for improving the market competitiveness of biopolymer materials against synthetic materials.