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Insights Nutr Metab 2017
Volume 1 Issue 3 Nutrition World 2017
Notes:
Page 41
September 11-12, 2017 Edinburgh, Scotland
15 th World Congress on
Advances in Nutrition, Food Science & Technology
The effect of a zinc-algal polysaccharide
complex on preventing contamination of food
emulsions
Irit Dvir1, Hila Tarazi2 and Shoshana Malis Arad2
1Sapir Academic College, Israel
2Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
The potential applicability of algae as a bioresource
for the sustainable production of foods, cosmetics
and pharmaceutical products is virtually unlimited. The
exploitation of algal bioresources is timely in light of the
current market trend toward a greater reliance on natural
products. Among the principal algal sources are red
microalgae, which produce unique biochemicals including
novel sulfated polysaccharides (PS). In recent years,
Arad laboratory has developed the biotechnology for the
production of valuable products based on red microalgae
with an emphasis on isolated sulfated polysaccharides
found in the algal cell wall. The combination of the
diverse biological activities of these novel molecules
(e.g. antiviral, antioxidant, anti -inflammatory and
soothing properties), with their distinctive properties (i.e.,
composition, structure, rheology and extreme stability),
can be exploited across a vast range of applications in
the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and food industries. The
red microalga, Porphyridium sp., is encapsulated within
a negatively charged PS that has unique rheological
characteristics which make it an excellent emulsifier. The
PS was shown to act as a platform for metal incorporation,
taking advantage of its ion-exchange capabilities and its
negative charge. In the current study we investigated the
combination of emulsifying and antibacterial activities of
a Zn-PS complex. It was shown that dairy emulsions and
oil-in water emulsions were stable in low concentrations
of Zn-PS complex (<0.2% and <500 ppm Zn). The Zn-
PS complex was also shown to have higher effect on
inhibition of bacterial growth when compared with the
algal polysaccharide alone. These results suggest that
the Zn-PS complex has significant potential as a novel
emulsifier that also inhibits food contamination. Overall,
the data support the potential of using functional sulfated
polysaccharides from redmicroalgae to stabilize emulsions
and to act as an antibacterial agent in food applications.
As such, the sulfated polysaccharide of the red microalga
Porphyridium sp. is of particular interest. The results of
this study may hold important implications for the possible
utilization of red microalgal polysaccharides as a novel
additive in food manufacturing.
Biography
Irit Dvir completed PhD at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel in
1999. She is an expert in the study of algae and its uses in the food industry
and as a dietary supplement. Currently she is a Senior Lecturer and Head of
the Chemistry and Life Sciences program at Sapir Academic College, Israel.
She is a member of the Council of Young Israeli Entrepreneurs and is always
looking for original and innovative research projects. She has published papers
in reputed international journals. Much of her work is interdisciplinary and
extends beyond red microalgae to include nutrition and food manufacturing.
Development of novel functional foods that can positively impact health and
prevent or treat metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
Irit Dvir et al., Insights Nutr Metab 2017