Biodegradable films from grape processing by-products.

• Grant number: 25/00653-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Technology
• Principal Investigator: Henriette Monteiro Cordeiro de Azeredo
• Grantee: João Francisco Cinegaglia Carvalho Silva
• Host Institution: Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA). Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Brasil). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Environmentally friendly packaging materials have been studied as sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics, whose disposal has caused a huge environmental impact related to their long biodegradation time. In order to produce sustainable packaging materials from renewable sources, fruit processing by-products (rich in polysaccharides and active compounds) may be used as raw materials. The utilization of bulk by-products (in contrast to the utilization of compounds extracted from them) is still not widely studied, since overcoming the recalcitrance of the vegetable biomass and the difficulty to form continuous and homogeneous materials is challenging. The objective of the present project is to viabilize the production of biopolymeric films for application as packaging materials for oilseeds from bulk grape pomace submitted to a previous acid hydrolysis to improve its processability to films. The resulting materials will be characterized in terms of chemical, physical, structural and active properties, and will be also tested as packaging materials for photo-oxidizable food products.