Physical and antioxidant properties of alginate films prepared from Sargassum fulvellum with black chokeberry extract

Alginate extracted from Sargassum fulvellum (SFA) was used as a base material for edible films. Calcium chloride was added as a cross-linking agent, and various amounts of black chokeberry extract (BCE: 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.7%, and 1%) were incorporated into the SFA films. The SFA film without calcium chloride had a tensile strength (TS) of 18.74 MPa and an elongation at break (EB) of 21.38%. With the addition of 2% calcium chloride, the TS of the SFA film increased to 31.66 MPa, whereas EB decreased to 10.20%. In contrast, incorporation of BCE increased EB of the SFA/CaCl2 films and decreased TS of the films. The developed SFA/CaCl2 film containing 1% BCE exhibited antioxidant activities. Therefore, the SFA/CaCl2 films containing BCE can be used as a new active packaging material, suggesting that biomass from brown algae can be used as biodegradable films.