Life Sciences & Biotechnology
Title : | Developing a biorefinery workflow for high value nutraceuticals from seaweed by green chemistry approach |
Area of research : | Life Sciences & Biotechnology |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Lekshmi R.G.Kumar, ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kerala |
Timeline Start Year : | 2022 |
Timeline End Year : | 2025 |
Contact info : | lekshmirgcof@gmail.com |
Equipments : | High Pressure Autoclaves |
Details
Executive Summary : | Seaweeds are reported to possess bioactive compounds having high antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antitumor properties etc. which is why they have gained the status of "superfood" recently. Recognizing the potential, effort have been made to extract bioactive compounds from seaweeds for development of nutraceuticals using several approaches. Supercritical fluid extraction, extraction using ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, enzymatic assisted extraction, high pressure extraction etc. can be utilized as sustainable methods for isolation of bioactive molecules. With this background, the present project is formulated to develop seaweed based nutraceutical formulations by following green chemistry technology. A process will be optimized for extraction of carotenoids (fucoxanthin), lipids and polyphenols (specifically, phlorotannins) from edible brown seaweeds using Supercritical CO2 extraction. Following the supercritical extraction, a process will be optimised for the extraction of the residual biomass using natural deep eutectic solvents/enzymatic/hydrothermal/ultrasound extraction techniques to obtain fucoidan and phenolic rich extract. The lipophilic extracts and the hydrophilic extracts from the seaweeds will further be emulsified with suitable fruit juice and biopolymers to obtain reconstitutable beverage formulations/dietary supplements. The physicochemical characterisation of the formulation will be carried out, microbiological safety of the product will be established and finally a pilot scale process line will be established and demonstrated. Objectives •To optimise green chemistry processes for extraction of fucoxanthin, fucoidan and polyphenolics from brown seaweeds •To design stable and safer food grade delivery systems for the isolated seaweed biomolecules •To develop seaweed biomolecule based dietary supplements/beverage formulations and its characterization Hypothesis Optimization of green chemistry based extraction processes in a biorefinery approach will ensure better utilization of seaweed biomass with higher yield and bioactivity of seaweed derived nutraceuticals Project Details Different extraction techniques such as supercritical fluid extraction, Enzymatic, Deep eutectic solvents assisted Hydrothermal extraction, Ultrasonic assisted extraction will be performed sequentially to obtain various seaweed biomolecules. Extracted biomolecule will be completely characterized by employing various in vitro assays and advanced analytical techniques such as HR-MS. Further, stable delivery systems will be designed for the isolated bioactives and their utility as a functional food ingredient will be evaluated by its incorporation in various food systems. It is anticipated that the research outcomes of the project will be of commercial interest as it aims at a cascaded valorization of seaweeds resulting in production of several high value added products. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Suseela Mathew, ICAR- Central Institute Of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, Kerala-682029, Dr. Niladri Sekhar chatterjee, ICAR- Central Institute Of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, Kerala-682029 |
Total Budget (INR): | 39,62,682 |
Organizations involved