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Ana Paula Batista

Bio: Ana Paula Batista is an academic researcher from Instituto Superior de Agronomia. The author has contributed to research in topics: Chlorella vulgaris & Biorefinery. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 10 publications receiving 240 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Microalgae can be regarded as an alternative and promising food ingredient due to their nutritional composition, richness in bioactive compounds, and because they are considered a sustainable protein source for the future.
Abstract: Microalgae can be regarded as an alternative and promising food ingredient due to their nutritional composition, richness in bioactive compounds, and because they are considered a sustainable protein source for the future. The aim of this work was to evaluate microalgae ( Arthrospira platensis F&M-C256, Chlorella vulgaris Allma, Tetraselmis suecica F&M-M33 and Phaeodactylum tricornutum F&M-M40) as innovative ingredients to enhance functional properties of cookies. Two biomass levels were tested and compared to control: 2% (w/w) and 6% (w/w), to provide high levels of algae-bioactives. The cookies sensory and physical properties were evaluated during eight weeks showing high color and texture stability. Cookies prepared with A. platensis and C. vulgaris presented significantly ( p A. platensis cookies were preferred. Besides, A. platensis also provided a structuring effect in terms of cookies texture. All microalgae-based cookies showed significantly higher ( p in vitro antioxidant capacity compared to the control. No significant difference ( p in vitro digestibility between microalgae cookies and the control was found.

188 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
23 Nov 2019-Foods
TL;DR: The dried biomasses of four microalgae strains were used as a source of proteins, antioxidants, and other bioactive molecules in artisanal wheat crackers and showed stable color and texture throughout eight weeks of storage and showed the highest antioxidant activity and attained better sensory analysis scores.
Abstract: Crackers are widely consumed snack foods and there is an increasing trend in adding functional ingredients to their composition. In the present work, the dried biomasses of four microalgae strains—Arthrospira platensis F&M-C256, Chlorella vulgaris Allma, Tetraselmis suecica F&M-M33, and Phaeodactylum tricornutum F&M-M40—were used as a source of proteins, antioxidants, and other bioactive molecules in artisanal wheat crackers. Two incorporation levels were tested: 2% (w/w) and 6% (w/w). The impact of microalgae addition was evaluated in terms of physical properties, biochemical composition, antioxidant activity, in vitro digestibility, and sensory characteristics. Microalgae crackers presented stable color and texture throughout eight weeks of storage. Microalgae crackers were slightly thinner and lighter than the control but presented a similar density in agreement with scanning electron microscope images, indicating that gas retention was not greatly affected by microalgae addition. Regarding biochemical composition, 6% A. platensis and C. vulgaris crackers presented a significantly higher protein content (13.2–13.5%), for which they could be claimed to be a “source of protein” according to the Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006. A. platensis crackers showed the highest antioxidant activity and attained better sensory analysis scores. T. suecica and P. tricornutum crackers showed high phenolic content and antioxidant activity but attained low sensory scores mainly because of their unattractive fishy off-flavor.

67 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The combination of spirulina biomass addition and the sourdough technology led to the development of a novel microalgae-based bakery product with nutritional and functional features.
Abstract: The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of Arthrospira platensis F&M-C256 (spirulina) incorporation on the nutritional and functional properties of “crostini”, a leavened bakery product largely consumed in Italy and Europe. Sourdough was used as leavening and fermentation agent and three concentrations of A. platensis F&M-C256 were tested: 2%, 6% and 10% (w/w). Despite a lower volume increase compared to the control, the A. platensis F&M-C256 “crostini” doughs reached a technological appropriate volume after fermentation. At the end of fermentation, no significant differences in microorganisms concentrations were observed. A. platensis F&M-C256 “crostini” showed higher protein content compared to the control. Considering the European Commission Regulation on nutritional claims, “crostini” incorporated with 6% and 10% biomass can be claimed to be a “source of protein”. Six and ten percent A. platensis “crostini” also presented significantly higher antioxidant capacity and phenolics. A significantly lower value of in vitro dry matter and protein digestibility between A. platensis F&M-C256 “crostini” and the control was found. The overall acceptability decreased with increasing A. platensis F&M-C256 addition. The combination of spirulina biomass addition and the sourdough technology led to the development of a novel microalgae-based bakery product with nutritional and functional features.

48 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Scenedesmus obliquus was used as model microalga substrate for studying the impact of operational parameters in batch dark fermentation trials using a strain of Enterobacter aerogenes bacteria, and hydrogen production was higher when using wet algal biomass enabling the energy consuming biomass drying step to be skipped.

43 citations


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TL;DR: This research examines the interaction between demand and socioeconomic attributes through Mixed Logit models and the state of art in the field of automatic transport systems in the CityMobil project.
Abstract: 2 1 The innovative transport systems and the CityMobil project 10 1.1 The research questions 10 2 The state of art in the field of automatic transport systems 12 2.1 Case studies and demand studies for innovative transport systems 12 3 The design and implementation of surveys 14 3.1 Definition of experimental design 14 3.2 Questionnaire design and delivery 16 3.3 First analyses on the collected sample 18 4 Calibration of Logit Multionomial demand models 21 4.1 Methodology 21 4.2 Calibration of the “full” model. 22 4.3 Calibration of the “final” model 24 4.4 The demand analysis through the final Multinomial Logit model 25 5 The analysis of interaction between the demand and socioeconomic attributes 31 5.1 Methodology 31 5.2 Application of Mixed Logit models to the demand 31 5.3 Analysis of the interactions between demand and socioeconomic attributes through Mixed Logit models 32 5.4 Mixed Logit model and interaction between age and the demand for the CTS 38 5.5 Demand analysis with Mixed Logit model 39 6 Final analyses and conclusions 45 6.1 Comparison between the results of the analyses 45 6.2 Conclusions 48 6.3 Answers to the research questions and future developments 52

4,784 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The status of utilising microalgae as an ingredient in innovative food products with potential health benefits is described, mainly because of the underdeveloped technologies and processes currently available formicroalgae processing.
Abstract: Microalgae have demonstrated potential to meet the population's need for a more sustainable food supply, specifically with respect to protein demand. These promising protein sources present several advantages over other currently used raw materials from an environmental point of view. Additionally, one of the main characteristics of microalgae is the production of bioactive compounds with potential benefits for human health. Microalgae exploitation as a source of protein (bulk protein) and other valuable products within the food industry still presents some drawbacks, mainly because of the underdeveloped technologies and processes currently available for microalgae processing. The systematic improvement of the technology readiness level (TRL) could help change the current situation if applied to microalgae cultivation and processing. High maturity in microalgae cultivation and processing technologies also requires improvement of the economy of scale and investment of resources in new facilities and research. Antioxidative, antihypertensive, immunomodulatory, anticancerogenic, hepato-protective, and anticoagulant activities have been attributed to some microalgae-derived compounds such as peptides. Nevertheless, research on this topic is scarce and the evidence on potential health benefits is not strong. In the last years, the possibility of using microalgae-derived compounds for innovative functional food products has become of great interest, but the literature available mainly focuses more on the addition of the whole cells or some compound already available on the market. This review describes the status of utilising microalgae as an ingredient in innovative food products with potential health benefits.

327 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: T tremendous efforts are required to overcome these challenges to revolutionize microalgae into a novel and green factory of different bioactive compounds for industrial necessities to satisfy and fulfil global demands.

220 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Despite the underlying potential in formulation of functional food/feed, extensive research and development efforts are still required before microalgae at large become a commercial reality in food and feed formulation.
Abstract: Bioactive compounds, e.g., protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids, vitamins and minerals, found in commercial form of microalgal biomass (e.g., powder, flour, liquid, oil, tablet, or capsule forms) may play important roles in functional food (e.g., dairy products, desserts, pastas, oil-derivatives, or supplements) or feed (for cattle, poultry, shellfish, and fish) with favorable outcomes upon human health, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects, as well as prevention of gastric ulcers, constipation, anemia, diabetes, and hypertension. However, scale up remains a major challenge before commercial competitiveness is attained. Notwithstanding the odds, a few companies have already overcome market constraints, and are successfully selling extracts of microalgae as colorant, or supplement for food and feed industries. Strong scientific evidence of probiotic roles of microalgae in humans is still lacking, while scarce studies have concluded on probiotic activity in marine animals upon ingestion. Limitations in culture harvesting and shelf life extension have indeed constrained commercial viability. There are, however, scattered pieces of evidence that microalgae play prebiotic roles, owing to their richness in oligosaccharides—hardly fermented by other members of the intestinal microbiota, or digested throughout the gastrointestinal tract of humans/animals for that matter. However, consistent applications exist only in the dairy industry and aquaculture. Despite the underlying potential in formulation of functional food/feed, extensive research and development efforts are still required before microalgae at large become a commercial reality in food and feed formulation.

213 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Microalgae pastas presented very appellative colours, such as orange and green, similar to pastas produced with vegetables, with nutritional advantages, showing energetic values similar to commercial pastas.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Microalgae are able to enhance the nutritional content of conventional foods and hence to positively affect human health, due to their original chemical composition. The aim of the present study was to prepare fresh spaghetti enriched with different amounts of microalgae biomass (Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina maxima) and to compare the quality parameters (optimal cooking time, cooking losses, swelling index and water absorption), chemical composition, instrumental texture and colour of the raw and cooked pasta enriched with microalgae biomass with standard semolina spaghetti. RESULTS: The incorporation of microalgae results in an increase of quality parameters when compared to the control sample. The colour of microalgae pastas remained relatively stable after cooking. The addition of microalgae resulted in an increase in the raw pasta firmness when compared to the control sample. Of all the microalgae studied, an increase in the biomass concentration (0.5–2.0%) resulted in a general tendency of an increase in the pasta firmness. Sensory analysis revealed that microalgae pastas had higher acceptance scores by the panellists than the control pasta. CONCLUSION: Microalgae pastas presented very appellative colours, such as orange and green, similar to pastas produced with vegetables, with nutritional advantages, showing energetic values similar to commercial pastas. The use of microalgae biomass can enhance the nutritional and sensorial quality of pasta, without affecting its cooking and textural properties. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry

209 citations