PhD in Biochemistry.Title of the research: Valorization of coffee by-products in the development of active bioplastics for paper coatingResume: Paper-based materials are usually coated with petroleum-based polymers to be used as food packaging. However, the use of these polymers compromises the paper recyclability, giving rise to environmental issues when landfilled. Therefore, alternative biodegradable plastic formulations for paper coating are required. Coffee industry byproducts are rich in valuable biomolecules as polysaccharides, lipids, and phenolics. Their use for developing biodegradable formulations for paper coating may represent an opportunity for their valorisation. During this Doctoral Thesis, the feasibility of using coffee husks (CHs), a byproduct derived from coffee cherries drying; coffee silverskin (CS), a byproduct derived from coffee bean roasting; and spent coffee grounds (SCG), a byproduct resulted from coffee beverages preparation, as sources of biomolecules of interest for developing biodegradable coating formulations will be studied. Aiming to develop coffee byproducts-based coating formulations, the biomolecules’ extraction methodologies will be carefully selected and optimized. After characterizing each coffee byproducts-based extract, their film-forming ability will be assessed through solvent casting technique. Coffee byproducts-based formulations will be adjusted by studying the films morphology, mechanical, physicochemical, barrier, and biodegradability properties. Moreover, aiming to develop bioformulations compatible with conventional industrial paper coating processes, the extrusion and impregnation ability of coffee byproducts-based formulations will be studied. This Doctoral Thesis will contribute for exploiting a sustainable approach that underlies a circular economy, whose success may offer biodegradable formulations competitive with the petroleum-based ones nowadays used for paper coating.

Research fellow at "POTATOPLASTIC - Development of a biodegradable bioplastic compound based on potato byproducts“ (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-017938), a national I&D co-promotion project funded by FEDER, through POCI program, that had ISOLAGO, a plastic industry, as leader and UA as co-promoter. The potato chips company “A Saloinha” was a feedstock’s supplier of this project. Dr. Idalina Gonçalves was the responsible researcher of POTATOPLASTIC and supervised my research grant.