KAPPA-CARRAGEENAN FILM BLENDED WITH GRAPE ANTHOCYANIN EXTRACT AS A PROSPECTIVE PH INDICATOR

Freshness indicators provides information about the quality of foods to users. These indicators react to variations in food occurring from both metabolic action and microbial growth. Microbial spoilage of foodstuffs is one of the major reason that leads to alterations in both the acidic and basic state of the food or its atmosphere. The focus of our study was to explore the prospects of developing a pH sensitive indicator film from kappa carrageenan based anthocyanin film. The anthocyanin extracted from grape pomace were incorporated into kappa-carrageenan film forming solution in varying proportions of 0.5%, 1% and 2% respectively. The physical, colorimetric property and morphology of the Kappa-carrageenan grape anthocyanin films were carried out. The pH sensitivity of the film was also studied. The control film appeared to be transparent, uniform and flexible in visual appearance, whereas the Kappa-carrageenan grape anthocyanin films appeared pink. The X-ray diffraction pattern indicates a broad hump at around 10-25° shows the Kappa carrageenan film is of semi-crystalline state. Among three kappa-carrageenan- anthocyanin films, most prominent colour change was observed with Kappa-carrageenan-anthocyanin film with 2% anthocyanin due to a prominent amount of anthocyanin incorporation. The developed Kappa-carrageenan grape anthocyanin film can certainly emerge out as a pH sensitive indicator film due to its several benefits and could be a potential material to overcome environmental threats caused by non-biodegradable materials.