Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) produced from red grape pomace: Effect of purification processes on structural, thermal and antioxidant properties

Red grape pomace was used as a source for poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) production, which was then subject to a range of purification processes. The different PHB biopolymers were characterized for chemical structure, crystallinity, thermal properties, colour, release of compounds into different food simulants and antioxidant inhibition, and comparisons were made with a commercially available PHB. An increase in purification steps did not have a significant effect on the high thermal stability of the extracted biopolymer, but it decreased the degree of crystallinity and the presence of amino acids and aromatic compounds. With additional purification, the PHB powders also whitened and the number of components released from the biopolymer into food simulants decreased. The released compounds presented antioxidant inhibition, which has not been previously reported in the literature or with commercially available polyhydroxyalkanoates. This is of great interest for food packaging and biomedical industries where the addition of antioxidant additives to improve PHB functional properties may not be necessary and could be avoided. The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment of New Zealand (MBIE, Biocide Toolbox programme), the Basque Government (KK-2021/00131 and IT1658-22) and PID2021-124294OB-C22 project funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE. A.E. thanks the State Research Agency of Spain within the Juan de la Cierva - Incorporation action (IJC2019-039697I).