Strengthening the potential of algal proteins for food colouring and fortification using high-pressure technology

Project acronym:   PRESSION

Project type:   International Research Projects

Grant agreement No.:   ANSO-CR-PP-2021-01

Project is funded by:   Alliance of International Science Organizations (Peking, China)

The research is conducted in:   University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry (Belgrade, Serbia) – Coordination

Project realization is scheduled from January 1, 2022 till December 31, 2024.

Project staff

Short description of the project

Algal phycobiliproteins (PBPs), mostly phycocyanin (PC) and phycoerythrin (PE), are increasingly recognised as safe and affordable, highly bioactive natural food colourants in place of carcinogenic chemical ones. Their vivid colours originate from covalently bound open-chain tetrapyrrole chromophores. The algal pigments market has been expected to grow at the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4% from 2019 to 2025 to cross $ 452.4 million, with the People's Republic of China as the key trading partner. The challenge for greater industrial use of PBPs as food colourant is to overcome the obstacles related to colour preservation during technological processes and storage, related to their low stability at high temperatures required for food treatment.

High-pressure processing (HPP) allows gentle preservation of food by HP without additives or heat. The advantages of HPP include reduction of energy costs, green food processing, and the conservation of food nutritional values, colours, and flavours. This emerging technology has already shown applications in food texturisation, freezing, gelation, and digestibility.

The general purpose of the proposed project is to employ HPP to PBP-fortified food to preserve and stabilise their colours. PBPs are purified from cyanobacteria and red algae. Our preliminary results show that PBPs' colour is mostly retained after high-pressure treatment up to 5,000 bars. We aim to additionally improve HP stability of PBP colours by adding natural food ingredients (vitamins, sugars, polyphenols, or whey proteins). The second use of HPP is to encapsulate PBPs into solid food matrices, such as starch or whey protein gels, to enforce bioactive activities of obtained products and their overall functional properties.

Through the employment of green HPP, the proposed project will broaden the application potential of PBPs as colourants and nutraceuticals, which can provide safer, healthier, and commercially attractive new food products at an acceptable price.