Effects of extraction procedures and plasticizer concentration on the optical, thermal, structural and antioxidant properties of novel ulvan films

Abstract Active films were produced with sulphated polysaccharides “ulvan”, extracted from the green seaweed Ulva lactuca with different extraction procedures, by varying the glycerol or sorbitol plasticizer concentration at 1% and 2% (w/v). The surface charge and glass transition temperature (Tg) of ulvans were carried out by zeta (ζ)-potential and DSC analysis, respectively. The investigation revealed that ulvans were anionic stable polymers and they had great Tg values. Regardless of the extraction procedure, ulvans can give successful films formulations. However, the optical, thermal, structural and antioxidant characteristics of ulvan films were strongly affected by extraction conditions and by the variation of the type and concentration of plasticizer. In general, as plasticizer concentration increased, ferrous chelating activity and compact structure increased as well, while, Tg, lightness and DPPH radical-scavenging activity decreased. Interestingly, the films plasticized with glycerol exhibited better compact structure, more negative temperature of transition, and greater free radical scavenging ability than with sorbitol. However, the films prepared with sorbitol had the highest L* values and chelating ability. The current study revealed a high correlation between zeta (ζ)-potential of ulvans and their Tg (R2 = 0.98), as well as with scavenging activity of ulvan films (R2 = 0.8–0.99).