Nowadays, halal products are gaining wider recognition as a new benchmark for safety and quality assurance. As a consequence the commercial development of microalgae is established due to their high value chemicals, for examples, β-carotene, astaxanthin, phycobilin pigments and algal extracts for cosmaceutical products. Therefore, many researchers have gained interest to study the potential of microalgae as new valuable chemicals and other product sources. The aim of the research is to explore new sources of pigments to be used as halal food colorants. This quest is not only directed in finding natural alternatives for synthetic dyes, but also to discover new taxons for the carotenoid production. Thus, there is a solid need to investigate the potential of natural pigments, particularly carotenoids in microalgae to be fully utilised and commercialised especially in halal market, health advantages, food products and dye technology. A total of 6 species was evaluated for quantitative and qualitative carotenoid composition, namely, Chlorella fusca, Chlorella vulgaris, Selenastrum capricornutum, Pandorina morum, Botryococcus sudeticus and Chlorococcum sp. The main carotenoids identified in all species through HPLC analysis were lutein, β-cryptoxanthin and β-carotene. The ratio of these carotenoids varies between species. Lutein was detected substantially higher in Chlorella fusca(69.54±11.29 μg/g DW);β-cryptoxanthin in Pandorina morum species (1.24±0.33 μg/g DW) whereas β-carotene in Chlorella vulgaris (18.42±9.2 ug/g DW). The significant outcome of the research will be new findings of new natural carotenoid pigment sources as potential food colorants and bioactive compounds which can be beneficial to halal health promoting products industry.
All carotenoids originate from a single, common precursor, phytoene. The colour of carotenoids is determinedby desaturation, isomerization, cyclization, hydroxylation and epoxidation of the 40-carbon phytoene. The conjugated double-bond structure and nature of end ring groups confer on the carotenoids properties such as colour and antioxidant activity. Algae may become major sources of carotenoids but the extent of environmental stress and genetic influences on algae carotenoid biosynthesis are poorly understood. Carotenoid biosynthesis can be influenced by many aspects and is liable to geometric isomerization with the existence of oxygen, light and heat which affect the colour degradation and oxidation. Therefore, in this study carotenoid biogenesis is investigated in cell culture of Chlorella fusca as a potential model system for rapid initiation, and extraction of carotenoids by providing stringent control of genetic, developmental and environmental factors. The value of this experimental system for investigating key factors controlling the carotenoid accumulation is then tested by assessing the effects of environmental variables, such as drought stress, light intensity, nutrient strength and media formulation on carotenoid accumulation. Our findings revealed that the conversion of violaxanthin to lutein is due to irradiance stress condition, nutrient strength as well as drought stress. As a result, manipulation of environmental variables will up-regulate lutein concentration. This reaction will restrict the supply of precursors for ABA biosynthesis and the algae cell culture responds by increasing carotenogenic metabolic flux to compensate for this restriction. In conclusion, selecting the appropriate algae species for the appropriate environmental conditions is not only important for yield production, but also for nutritional value quality of carotenoid.
Gelatin is extensively added to the food products for quality improvements of food entities. The role of gelatin as food thickener, texturizer, stabilizer, ingredient and as an animal based source has restricted its liberal use. However, the usage of this animal-based food quality improver has become less popular due to religious constraints and health restrictions. In fact, it is now direly needed to replace animal-based gelatin by plant-based. Pectin, the basic building material of cell walls in the terrestrial plant has great potential to be gelatin replacer as it can work as a gelling agent, thickener and also a stabilizer. Dragon fruit contains pectin which has high-value functional food as well as healthenhancing properties to substitute gelatin’s function in foods production. The current study aims to extract pectin from dragon fruit peels by using hot acid extraction. The optimum conditions for extraction were found to be at 75ºC and pH 3.5 based on the highest percentage of pectin yield (33%). The FTIR result proved that dragon fruit peel contained pectin, which can be used as gelatin replacer are free from any religious and health-wise prohibitions. Pectin extracted was characterized in terms of moisture (14.03 ± 1.925) and ash content (8.73 ± 1.218). The extracted pectin of dragon fruit peel acts as the best gelatin replacer compared to commercial pectin and gelatins from the market. The prepared fruit peels also exhibit high DPPH scavenging activity (57.94%) with methanol extract (2mg/ml).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.