Simultaneous extraction of oil- and water-soluble phase from sunflower seeds with subcritical water

Effects of thermal processing on natural antioxidants in fruits and vegetables

Research on the content of polyphenolic compounds in fruits and vegetables, the extraction of bioactive compounds, and the study of their impact on the human body has received growing attention in recent years. This is due to the great interest in bioactive compounds and their health benefits, resulting in increased market demand for natural foods. Bioactive compounds from plants are generally categorized as natural antioxidants with health benefits such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-carcinogenic, etc. Thermal processing has been used in the food sector for a long history. Implementing different thermal processing methods could be essential in retaining the quality of the natural antioxidant compounds in plant-based foods. A comprehensive review is presented on the effects of thermal blanching (i.e., hot water, steam, superheated steam impingement, ohmic and microwave blanching), pasteurization, and sterilization and drying technologies on natural antioxidants in fruits and vegetables.

Bioactive Antioxidant Compounds from Chestnut Peels through Semi-Industrial Subcritical Water Extraction

Chestnut peels are a poorly characterized, underexploited by-product of the agri-food industry. This raw material is rich in bioactive compounds, primarily polyphenols and tannins, that can be extracted using different green technologies. Scaling up the process for industrial production is a fundamental step for the valorization of the extract. In this study, subcritical water extraction was investigated to maximize the extraction yield and polyphenol content. Lab-scale procedures have been scaled up to the semi-industrial level as well as the downstream processes, namely, concentration and spray drying. The extract antioxidant capacity was tested using in vitro and cellular assays as well as a preliminary evaluation of its antiadipogenic activity. The temperature, extraction time, and water/solid ratio were optimized, and the extract obtained under these conditions displayed a strong antioxidant capacity both in in vitro and cellular tests. Encouraging data on the adipocyte model showed the influence of chestnut extracts on adipocyte maturation and the consequent potential antiadipogenic activity. Chestnut peel extracts characterized by strong antioxidant power and potential antiadipogenic activity were efficiently obtained by removing organic solvents. These results prompted further studies on fraction enrichment by ultra- and nanofiltration. The semi-industrial eco-friendly extraction process and downstream benefits reported here may open the door to production and commercialization.

Progress in the Valorization of Fruit and Vegetable Wastes: Active Packaging, Biocomposites, By-Products, and Innovative Technologies Used for Bioactive Compound Extraction

According to the Food Wastage Footprint and Climate Change Report, about 15% of all fruits and 25% of all vegetables are wasted at the base of the food production chain. The significant losses and wastes in the fresh and processing industries is becoming a serious environmental issue, mainly due to the microbial degradation impacts. There has been a recent surge in research and innovation related to food, packaging, and pharmaceutical applications to address these problems. The underutilized wastes (seed, skin, rind, and pomace) potentially present good sources of valuable bioactive compounds, including functional nutrients, amylopectin, phytochemicals, vitamins, enzymes, dietary fibers, and oils. Fruit and vegetable wastes (FVW) are rich in nutrients and extra nutritional compounds that contribute to the development of animal feed, bioactive ingredients, and ethanol production. In the development of active packaging films, pectin and other biopolymers are commonly used. In addition, the most recent research studies dealing with FVW have enhanced the physical, mechanical, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of packaging and biocomposite systems. Innovative technologies that can be used for sensitive bioactive compound extraction and fortification will be crucial in valorizing FVW completely; thus, this article aims to report the progress made in terms of the valorization of FVW and to emphasize the applications of FVW in active packaging and biocomposites, their by-products, and the innovative technologies (both thermal and non-thermal) that can be used for bioactive compounds extraction.

Simultaneous Recovery of High Quality Black Sesame Oil and Defatted Meal by a New Aqueous Method: Optimization and Comparison with Other Methods

A method able to simultaneously obtain oil and defatted meal (rich in proteins) with high quality is preferable to others for processing black sesame seeds, which should also be green, healthy, highly efficient and sustainable. Methods including solvent extraction and hot-pressing currently available for the commercial production of oils are not able to meet all criteria just mentioned above. Therefore, development of new aqueous method of extracting black sesame oil has been promoted. In our study, we developed a new aqueous method using 1.95:10 aqueous salt solution-to-ground black sesame seed ratio which simultaneously recovered 96.54% black sesame oils and defatted meal with only 3.89% residual oils and 50.1% proteins (on dry weight basis). The oil produced had low acid value at 0.43 mgKOH/kg and peroxide value 3.37 mmol/kg and good other quality indexes. We found that proper amount of water added was essential for efficiently recover black sesame oils while other factors including temperature and time of baking raw materials to deactivate lipase activity, pore size of the sieve for ground black sesame seeds to pass through, addition of salt as well as temperature and time of agitating significantly affected the recovery efficiency. As compared with other methods, the new aqueous method had higher oil recovery rate or quality and was more environmentally friendly. No waste water was discharged during separation of oils. The experimental data can be applied to guide the design and manufacture of production line of black sesame oilseeds on a pilot or commercial scale.

Subcritical Water Extraction of Natural Products

Subcritical water refers to high-temperature and high-pressure water. A unique and useful characteristic of subcritical water is that its polarity can be dramatically decreased with increasing temperature. Therefore, subcritical water can behave similar to methanol or ethanol. This makes subcritical water a green extraction fluid used for a variety of organic species. This review focuses on the subcritical water extraction (SBWE) of natural products. The extracted materials include medicinal and seasoning herbs, vegetables, fruits, food by-products, algae, shrubs, tea leaves, grains, and seeds. A wide range of natural products such as alkaloids, carbohydrates, essential oil, flavonoids, glycosides, lignans, organic acids, polyphenolics, quinones, steroids, and terpenes have been extracted using subcritical water. Various SBWE systems and their advantages and drawbacks have also been discussed in this review. In addition, we have reviewed co-solvents including ethanol, methanol, salts, and ionic liquids used to assist SBWE. Other extraction techniques such as microwave and sonication combined with SBWE are also covered in this review. It is very clear that temperature has the most significant effect on SBWE efficiency, and thus, it can be optimized. The optimal temperature ranges from 130 to 240 °C for extracting the natural products mentioned above. This review can help readers learn more about the SBWE technology, especially for readers with an interest in the field of green extraction of natural products. The major advantage of SBWE of natural products is that water is nontoxic, and therefore, it is more suitable for the extraction of herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Another advantage is that no liquid waste disposal is required after SBWE. Compared with organic solvents, subcritical water not only has advantages in ecology, economy, and safety, but also its density, ion product, and dielectric constant can be adjusted by temperature. These tunable properties allow subcritical water to carry out class selective extractions such as extracting polar compounds at lower temperatures and less polar ingredients at higher temperatures. SBWE can mimic the traditional herbal decoction for preparing herbal medication and with higher extraction efficiency. Since SBWE employs high-temperature and high-pressure, great caution is needed for safe operation. Another challenge for application of SBWE is potential organic degradation under high temperature conditions. We highly recommend conducting analyte stability checks when carrying out SBWE. For analytes with poor SBWE efficiency, a small number of organic modifiers such as ethanol, surfactants, or ionic liquids may be added.

Subcritical Water Extraction of Chestnut Bark and Optimization of Process Parameters

The aim of the work was the optimization of the subcritical water extraction process of chestnut bark using Box–Behnken response surface methodology. The influence of process parameters, such as temperature, extraction time and solvent-solid ratio, on extraction yield, yield of the main compounds, total phenol content, total tannin content and antioxidant activity has been investigated. The identified compounds were ellagic and gallic acids, ellagitannins (vescalagin, castalagin, 1-o-galloyl castalagin, vescalin and castalin), sugars (maltose, glucose, fructose and arabinose) and sugar derivatives (5-HMF, furfural and levulinic acid). Finally, the optimal process conditions for obtaining the bark extract highly rich in ellagic acid and with satisfactory levels of total phenols and total tannins have been determined.

Critical functional properties of defatted peanut meal produced by aqueous extraction and conventional methods

The functional properties of the defatted peanut meal produced by aqueous extraction, solvent extraction and cold screw pressing followed by solvent extraction were studied. Good gelling property, color and nitrogen dispersibility as well as the high protein content of the defatted peanut meals produced by these methods were verified to be the critical functional properties for their high value of application to the food industry (e.g. production of ham sausages or hotdog sausages) though they are not suggested to be applied to the foods needing good oil binding capacity, emulsifying activity or stability and foaming capacity or stability. These results should provide valuable reference data for the application of defatted peanut meal to the food industry, the correct selection of processing method of peanut kernels which should be pursued by manufacturers and the determination of research direction that peanut processing technologists should be interested in.

Establishment of an aqueous method for extracting soybean oils assisted by adding free oil

Concern for the environment, safety and costs has promoted the development of the method for extracting soybean oil by an aqueous process. An advanced aqueous extraction of soybean oil assisted by adding free oil was established in this study, which recovered 81% of the oil from soybeans with 20.73% crude oil content and produced a de-oiled residue with 4.7% residual oil. The acid or peroxide value of the recovered oil met the Chinese national standard for first class refined oil, which was lower than that produced by solvent extraction or high temperature pressing. No wastewater was produced during the aqueous extraction of oil. The removal of the oil by the addition of oil and a small amount of water generated a residue (solids) containing all the protein, which represents 2/3 of the revenue in the soybean process. The protein-rich residue can be further processed to produce a protein isolate with high purity (e.g. > 90%) by using a higher amount of water. It can also be used as a nutritious ingredient or raw material for the production of many food products, among other applications.

Pressurized liquid extraction of cyclitols and sugars: optimization of extraction parameters and selective separation

Cyclitols and sugars were obtained as a mixture from Medicago sativa L., in a comparative study by using maceration, and pressurized liquid extraction, as a modern and green extraction techniques. The influence of extraction parameters including: extraction temperature, time and number of cycles on the content of sugars and cyclitols was investigated based on response surface methodology. The highest total amount of sugars and cyclitols (62.27 ± 2.30 and 50.35 ± 0.77 mg/g of dry material, respectively) was obtained when extraction was performed at 88°C, for 22 min, in two cycles. The methodology used involved extraction, purification, selective separation (using yeast and anion exchange resin) and derivatization, followed by gas chromatography -mass spectrometry analysis. The use of yeast treatment realized an effective fractionation of cyclitols and sugars, which allowed the removal of most sugars. The involvement of anion exchange resin after yeast allowed the removal of sugar alcohols and lactose, together with other sugar traces remained and to obtain a solution containing six cyclitols. The recrystallization of dry residue after solvent evaporation, from ethanol, allowed us to obtain 14.65 mg of white pure crystals identified with NMR spectroscopy, liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry, gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, optical rotation and melting point as analysis D-pinitol.

Simultaneous Identification and Dynamic Analysis of Saccharides during Steam Processing of Rhizomes of Polygonatum cyrtonema by HPLC⁻QTOF⁻MS/MS

The sweet rhizomes of Polygonatum cyrtonema are widely used as a tonic and functional food. A sensitive and rapid analytical method was developed for simultaneous identification and dynamic analysis of saccharides during steam processing in P. cyrtonema using HPLC–QTOF–MS/MS. Fructose, sorbitol, glucose, galactose, sucrose, and 1-kestose were identified, as well as a large number of oligosaccharides constituted of fructose units through β-(2→1) or β-(2→6). Polysaccharides and oligosaccharides were decomposed to monosaccharides during a steaming process, since the contents of glucose, galactose, and fructose were increased, while those of sucrose, 1-kestose, and polysaccharides were decreased. The high content of fructose was revealed to be the main determinant for increasing the level of sweetness after steaming. The samples of different repeated steaming times were shown to be well grouped and gradually shift along the PC1 (72.4%) axis by principal component analysis. The small-molecule saccharides, especially fructose, could be considered as markers for the steaming process of rhizomes of P. cyrtonema.

Separation of Active Compounds from Food by-Product (Cocoa Shell) Using Subcritical Water Extraction

Large amounts of residues are produced in the food industries. The waste shells from cocoa processing are usually burnt for fuel or used as a mulch in gardens to add nutrients to soil and to suppress weeds. The objectives of this work were: (a) to separate valuable compounds from cocoa shell by applying sustainable green separation process—subcritical water extraction (SWE); (b) identification and quantification of active compounds, sugars and sugar degradation products in obtained extracts using HPLC; (c) characterization of the antioxidant activity of extracts; (d) optimization of separation process using response surface methodology (RSM). Depending on applied extraction conditions, different concentration of theobromine, caffeine, theophylline, epicatechin, catechin, chlorogenic acid and gallic acid were determined in the extracts obtained by subcritical water. Furthermore, mannose, glucose, xylose, arabinose, rhamnose and fucose were detected as well as their important degradation products such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), furfural, levulinic acid, lactic acid and formic acid.

Green and Sustainable Separation of Natural Products from Agro-Industrial Waste: Challenges, Potentialities, and Perspectives on Emerging Approaches

New generations of biorefinery combine innovative biomass waste resources from different origins, chemical extraction and/or synthesis of biomaterials, biofuels, and bioenergy via green and sustainable processes. From the very beginning, identifying and evaluating all potentially high value-added chemicals that could be removed from available renewable feedstocks requires robust, efficient, selective, reproducible, and benign analytical approaches. With this in mind, green and sustainable separation of natural products from agro-industrial waste is clearly attractive considering both socio-environmental and economic aspects. In this paper, the concepts of green and sustainable separation of natural products will be discussed, highlighting the main studies conducted on this topic over the last 10 years. The principal analytical techniques (such as solvent, microwave, ultrasound, and supercritical treatments), by-products (e.g., citrus, coffee, corn, and sugarcane waste) and target compounds (polyphenols, proteins, essential oils, etc.) will be presented, including the emerging green and sustainable separation approaches towards bioeconomy and circular economy contexts.

Towards integral utilization of grape pomace from winemaking process: A review

Grape is the main fruit crop in several countries. Although many grape-based food products can be found in the market, studies have shown that around 75% of the world grape production is destined for the wine industry. Grape pomace is an abundant by-product from the wine industry, which consists of the remaining skin, seeds and stalks and represents around 25% of total grape weight used in the winemaking process. In countries such as Italy, France and Spain, where wine production is more relevant, the annual grape pomace generation can reach nearly 1200 tonnes per year. In order to reach a sustainable winemaking process there is a need of a waste reduction policy. Several studies explore this subject using grape pomace as a source of healthy and technological compounds that could be applied in animal feed, pharmaceutical, cosmetic or food industry to improve stability and nutritional characteristics, and in cosmetic industry, where grape seeds oil is widely used. This review aims to approach the recent winemaking scenario and the benefits achieved when a waste management policy is implemented, as well as to compare available extractive technologies and a wide alternative of uses for grape pomace.

Microwave Assisted Extraction of Defatted Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) Seed at Subcritical Conditions with Statistical Analysis

Roselle seeds are the waste product of roselle processing, but they are now labeled as a polyphenol source with great herbal quality. In this work, polyphenols were extracted using ethanol-water (70% (v/v)) in a closed vessel under microwave irradiation. The main objective was to determine the optimal parameters statistically. The influence of extraction time (4–10 min), microwave power (100–300 W), and solvent/solid ratio (25–100 mL/g) was studied. The total phenolic and flavonoids content were determined using Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride methods, respectively. Without temperature control, the subcritical conditions could occur and the highest flavonoid content (14.4251 mg QE/g) was achieved at 158°C and 16.4 bar. Although the optimum MAE conditions (10 min, 300 W, and 97.7178 mL/g) resulted in the highest yield (65.0367%) and phenolic content (18.2244 mg GAE/g), low flavonoids content (6.4524 mg QE/g) was unexpectedly obtained due to degradation at 163°C.

Simultaneous determination of neonicotinoid insecticides in sunflower-treated seeds (hull and kernel) by LC-MS/MS

A validated analytical method to determine seven neonicotinoids (dinotefuran, nitenpyram, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, imidacloprid, acetamiprid and thiacloprid) in sunflower seeds (hull and kernel) using HPLC coupled to electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is presented. Sample clean-up based on a solid-liquid extraction, and the removal of lipid fraction, in the case of kernels, is proposed and optimised. Low limits of detection and quantification were obtained, ranging from 0.3 × 10(-3) to 1.2 × 10(-3) µg g(-1) and from 1.0 × 10(-3) to 4.0 × 10(-3) µg g(-1), with good precision, and recovery values ranged from 90% to 104% for hulls and kernels. The method was applied for the analysis of five thiamethoxam-dressed sunflower seeds and four non-treated seeds, where, besides thiamethoxam, residues of the other neonicotinoid, clothianidin, were also detected and confirmed via tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). Finally, the presence of residues of thiamethoxam and clothianidin in collected sunflower seeds (hulls) coming from coated seeds confirmed the translocation of these neonicotinoids through the plant up to these seeds.

Development of a subcritical water extraction approach for trace analysis of chloramphenicol, thiamphenicol, florfenicol, and florfenicol amine in poultry tissues

Subcritical water extraction was investigated as a novel and alternative technology for the separation of trace amounts of chloramphenicol, thiamphenicol, florfenicol and its major metabolite florfenicol amine from poultry tissues and its results were compared with those of conventional shaking extraction, ultrasonic extraction, and pressurized liquid extraction. Decreasing the polarity of water by successively increasing the extraction temperature from 50°C to 200°C at the moderate pressure enabled selective, highly effective extractions to be performed. Rapid quantification of the target compounds was carried out by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS). The critical parameters of subcritical water extraction such as solvent modifier, temperature, pressure, extraction time, and static cycles were varied with control. The optimized extraction procedures using subcritical water as extraction solvent, were carried out on a pressurized liquid extractor operated at 150°C and 100bar, applying two static cycles for 3min. Average recoveries of the four analytes from fortified samples ranged between 86.8% and 101.5%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 7.7%. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) for the target compounds were in the ranges of 0.03-0.5μgkg(-1) and 0.1-2.0μgkg(-1), respectively. The proposed method is fast, sensitive, water-based thus more environmental acceptable, making it a suitable replacement for conventional organic solvent extraction in veterinary drug residue analysis.

Effect of Porcine Collagen Peptides on the Rheological and Sensory Properties of Ice Cream

The effects of low molecular-weight collagen peptides derived from porcine skin were investigated on the physicochemical and sensorial properties of chocolate ice cream. Collagen peptides less than 1 kDa in weight were obtained by sub-critical water hydrolysis at a temperature of 300℃ and a pressure of 80 bar. Ice cream was then prepared with gelatin powder and porcine skin hydrolysate (PSH) stabilizers mixed at seven different ratios (for a total of 0.5 wt%). There was no significant difference in color between the resulting ice cream mixtures. The increase in apparent viscosity and shear thinning of the ice cream was more moderate with PSH added than with gelatin. Moreover, the samples containing more than 0.2 wt% PSH had enhanced melting resistance, while the mixture with 0.2 wt% PSH had the lowest storage modulus at -20℃ and the second highest loss modulus at 10℃, indicating that this combination of hydrocolloids leads to relatively softer and creamier chocolate ice cream. Among the seven types of ice creams tested, the mixture with 0.2 wt% PSH and 0.3 wt% gelatin had the best physicochemical properties. However, in sensory evaluations, the samples containing PSH had lower chocolate flavor scores and higher off-flavor scores than the sample prepared with just 0.5 wt% gelatin due to the strong off-flavor of PSH.

Effects of Ethanol Addition on the Efficiency of Subcritical Water Extraction of Proteins and Amino Acids from Porcine Placenta

In a previous study, hydrolysates of porcine placenta were obtained and the extraction efficiency for proteins and amino acids was compared between sub- and super-critical water extraction systems; optimum efficiency was found to be achieved using subcritical water (170℃, 10 bar). In this study, the effects of adding ethanol to the subcritical water system were investigated. The lowest-molecular-weight extraction product detected weighed 434 Da, and the efficiency of extraction for low-molecular-weight products was increased when either the concentration of ethanol was decreased, or the extraction time was lengthened from 10 min to 30 min. The highest concentration of free amino acids (approximately 8 mM) was observed following 30 min extraction using pure distilled water. The concentration of free amino acids was significantly lower when ethanol was added or a shorter extraction time was used (p<0.05). Color change of the solution following extraction was measured. There were no significant differences in color between lysates produced with different extraction times when using distilled water (p>0.05); however, using different extraction times produced significant differences in color when using 20% or 50% ethanol solution for subcritical extraction (p<0.05). The range of pH for the hydrolysate solutions was 6.4-7.5. In conclusion, the investigated extraction system was successful in the extraction of ≤ 500 Da hydrolysates from porcine placenta, but addition of ethanol did not yield higher production of low-molecular-weight hydrolysates than that achieved by DW alone.

Effect of Sub- and Super-critical Water Treatment on Physicochemical Properties of Porcine Skin

Super- and sub-critical water treatments have been of interest as novel methods for protein hydrolysis. In the present study, we studied the effect of sub-critical water (Sub-H₂O, 300℃, 80 bar) treatment as well as super-critical water (Super-H₂O, 400℃, 280 bar) treatment on the physicochemical properties of porcine skin (PS), which has abundant collagen. Porcine skin was subjected to pre-thermal treatment by immersion in water at 70℃, and then treated with sub- or super-critical water. Physicochemical properties of the hydrolysates, such as molecular weight distribution, free amino acid content, amino acid profile, pH, color, and water content were determined. For the molecular weight distribution analysis, 1 kDa hydrolyzed porcine skin (H-PS) was produced by Super-H₂O or Sub-H₂O treatment. The free amino acid content was 57.18 mM and 30.13 mM after Sub-H₂O and Super-H₂O treatment, respectively. Determination of amino acid profile revealed that the content of Glu (22.5%) and Pro (30%) was higher after Super-H₂O treatment than after Sub-H₂O treatment, whereas the content of Gly (28%) and Ala (13.1%) was higher after Sub-H₂O treatment. Super-H₂O or Sub-H₂O treatment affected the pH of PS, which changed from 7.29 (Raw) to 9.22 (after Sub-H₂O treatment) and 9.49 (after Super-H₂O treatment). Taken together, these results showed that Sub-H₂O treatment was slightly more effective for hydrolysis than Super-H₂O was. However, both Sub-H₂O and Super-H₂O treatments were effective processing methods for hydrolysis of PS collagen in a short time and can be regarded as a green chemistry technology.

Determination of 13 endocrine disrupting chemicals in sediments by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using subcritical water extraction coupled with dispersed liquid-liquid microextraction and derivatization

In this study, a sample pretreatment method was developed for the determination of 13 endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in sediment samples based on the combination of subcritical water extraction (SWE) and dispersed liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME). The subcritical water that provided by accelerated solvent extractor (ASE) was the sample solution (water) for the following DLLME and the soluble organic modifier that spiked in the subcritical water was also used as the disperser solvent for DLLME in succession. Thus, several important parameters that affected both SWE and DLLME were investigated, such as the extraction solvent for DLLME (chlorobenzene), extraction time for DLLME (30s), selection of organic modifier for SWE (acetone), volume of organic modifier (10%) and extraction temperature for SWE (150 °C). In addition, good chromatographic behavior was achieved for GC-MS after derivatisation by using N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA). As a result, proposed method sensitive and reliable with the limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.006 ng g(-1) (BPA) to 0.639 ng g(-1) (19-norethisterone) and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) between 1.5% (E2) and 15.0% (DES). Moreover, the proposed method was compared with direct ASE extraction that reported previously, and the results showed that SWE-DLLME was more promising with recoveries ranging from 42.3% (dienestrol) to 131.3% (4,5α-dihydrotestosterone), except for diethylstilbestrol (15.0%) and nonylphenols (29.8%). The proposed method was then successfully applied to determine 13 EDCs sediment of Humen outlet of the Pearl River, 12 of target compounds could be detected, and 10 could be quantitative analysis with the total concentration being 39.6 ng g(-1), and which indicated that the sediment of Humen outlet was heavily contaminated by EDCs.