Edible Alginate–Lecithin Films Enriched with Different Coffee Bean Extracts: Formulation, Non-Cytotoxic, Anti-Inflammatory and Antimicrobial Properties

The aim of this study was to analyze the functional properties of newly obtained films based on sodium alginate and lecithin with the addition of antioxidant-rich coffee extracts and to verify their potential as safe edible food packaging materials. In our study, we developed alginate–lecithin films enriched with green or roasted coffee bean extracts. The roasting process of coffee beans had a significant impact on the total phenolic content (TPC) in the studied extracts. The highest value of TPC (2697.2 mg GAE/dm3), as well as antioxidant activity (AA) (17.6 mM T/dm3), was observed for the extract of light-roasted coffee beans. Films with the addition of medium-roasted coffee extracts and baseline films had the highest tensile strength (21.21 ± 0.73 N). The addition of coffee extract improved the barrier properties of the films against UV light with a decrease in the transmittance values (200–400 nm), regardless of the type of extract added. Studies on Caco-2, HepG2 and BJ cells showed that digestated films were non-cytotoxic materials (100–0.1 μg/cm3) and had no negative effect on cell viability; an increase was noted for all cell lines, the highest after 48 h in a dose of 1 μg/cm3 for a film with medium-roasted coffee (194.43 ± 38.30) for Caco-2. The tested films at 20% digestate concentrations demonstrated the ability to reduce nitric oxide (NO) production in the RAW264.7 cell line by 25 to 60% compared to the control. Each of the tested films with coffee extracts had growth inhibitory properties towards selected species of bacteria.