A review on the packaging of dairy products with extracts and pigments of cyanobacteria and microalgae

Bioactive compounds and natural food pigments such as astaxanthin (red), lutein (yellow), chlorophyll (green), and phycocyanin (light blue), extracted from cyanobacteria, are rich in fatty acids, proteins, and antioxidant compounds. These bioactive components are used as dietary supplements in the form of paste, powder, tablets, or capsules. Fermented dairy products, beyond their nutritional and sensory properties, serve as a potential source of probiotics. However, in recent years, growing consumer concerns over the negative effects of animal-based dairy products and the instability of probiotics have significantly reduced dairy consumption. This review examines articles published between 2020 and 2023 in databases such as Springer, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and John Wiley to assess the potential of cyanobacteria in enhancing the physicochemical composition, colorimetric and antioxidant properties, texture, rheological behavior, sensory characteristics, and the viability of starter cultures and probiotics in yogurt, cheese, and ice cream by incorporating microalgal biomass and its derivatives. Relevant keywords were selected using the MeSH database, and based on these, thirty new review and research articles were compiled. The findings from the synthesis of various studies suggest that incorporating microalgae into cheese, fermented milk, and other dairy products represents an innovative approach for developing hybrid products enriched with plant-based compounds and animal proteins, providing a valuable source of bioactive ingredients.