Antioxidative effectiveness of environment friendly functional biopolymers for food applications

Abstract

As consumers are demanding polymeric materials more natural, disposable, biodegradable and recyclable, the interest in active food-packaging systems in which the polymer matrix has low environmental impact is growing significantly. To this regard, the insertion of antioxidant molecules onto polysaccharides backbone is an innovative strategy to produce biocompatible species suitable for food-packaging applications. Moreover, free radical grafting is a method which allows the synthesis of antioxidant biomacromolecule without the use of organic solvents or toxic radical initiators. In the present study, quercetin, catechin and gallic acid were bound to chitosan, starch, inulin and alginate using this technique and good antioxidant activity of the conjugates were observed. This can be useful in the optimization of food preservation and to help manufacturers in elaboration of new and sustainable food products and packaging.