Astaxanthin from Shrimp By-products for Active Packaging Systems

The two year international project “Preparation of active packaging with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity based on astaxanthin and chitosan”,1 which started in 2009, was funded by FONCYCIT (Fund for International Cooperation of Science and Technology between the European Union and Mexico). Within this project, new methodologies for the extraction and characterization of astaxanthin and chitosan from shrimp waste were optimized. Moreover, incorporation of these compounds into different polymeric matrices was performed to obtain active packaging with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Finally, control-release studies were done to determine the quantity of active compounds that could migrate into foodstuffs.

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