The consumption of soft drinks and beverages is a daily habit of a large part of the population, particularly of children and adolescents. The limited shelf-life of the fresh beverages imposes the use of enhancers, such as antioxidants, emulsifiers, colour substances, etc. The majority of beverages enhancers are synthetic and their excessive consumption has been accused for several health disorders and chronic diseases.[1] Therefore, the last years there is an effort of reducing the synthetic enhancers in food products. Particularly, the new European regulation for food additives (1129/2011) intends to restrict or decrease the use of numerous synthetic enhancers and to impose their replacement with natural ingredients.
In this study, multifunctional extracts from Dunaliella salina microalga have been suggested as beverage enhancers. D. salina is a unicellular Chlorophyta alga able to accumulate high levels of β-carotene (up to 14% of its dry weight). Β-carotene is widely used in the food, industry as coloring, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.[2] The range of shades from β-carotene includes yellow, orange as well as red shades. Therefore, it can replace synthetic ones such as Tartrazine, Sunset Yellow etc.[3] Moreover, the significant antioxidant activity that β-carotene presents can sufficiently compete and replace synthetic antioxidants such as BHA, BHT.[4]
For effective utilization of β-carotene, the nutrient should be extracted from the microalga. In this study, a comparative analysis between conventional solvent extraction and innovative green extraction methods, using microwaves and ultrasounds, has been conducted. The isolation of the desired natural compounds as well as the environmental impact of each method has been the criteria for the different processes evaluation. A comparative life cycle analysis was carried out, using proper databases and software, in order to evaluate the selected extraction processes’ sustainability.
References
[1] Gultekin F., Dofuc D., Clinic. Rev. Allerg. Immunol. (2012).
[2] Wan-Loy Chu, JSME, 6 (2012) 24.
[3] Mortensen A., Pure Appl. Chem., 78 (2006) 1477.
[4] Muller L., Frohlich K., Bohm V., Food Chemistry, 129 (2011) 139.
