Ice recrystallization can damage the microstructure of food products, and one potential solution is the use of molecules with demonstrated ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity. The objective was to determine the IRI activity of sorghum kafirin hydrolysates as affected by succinylation and the dispersing medium. The IRI activity of the sorghum kafirin hydrolysates was analyzed by the splat assay in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and 10 mM NaCl. At 2% concentration, sorghum kafirin hydrolyzed by bromelain for 1 h resulted in 55% reduction in ice crystal size in 10 mM NaCl, while this was not observed when the dispersing medium is PBS. Succinylation at 0.25:1 molar ratio (succinic anhydride: amine group of the peptides) yielded modified hydrolysates that were slightly more IRI active in PBS, but the difference was not significant. The data showed the potential application of sorghum kafirin hydrolysates to act as antifreeze molecules to preserve the quality of frozen materials.
The current research focuses on developing and optimizing the defatting protocols that lead to sustainable and industrially scalable isolation of two main components ofNannochloropsis oceanicamicroalga, i.e., lipid content and defatted biomass comprising primarily of proteins and polysaccharides. We introduce a simplified extraction protocol that includes treating the microalga powder with ethyl alcohol heated slightly below boiling point (∼70 °C) for a short time (1 h). Multiple runs (EP1-EP10) were performed during the defatting process optimization, followed by extensive characterization of the obtained isolates. The comparison of the properties between the products of EP3-EP10 runs and the commercial defatted biomass sample shows that several isolates have characteristic properties that are equal to or exceed those of the commercial sample, which creates the opportunity for further development of the defatted biomass isolates ofNannochloropsis oceanicaas a reliable alternative protein source.