Production of antioxidants from Eucalyptus globulus wood by solvent extraction of hemicellulose hydrolysates

Green solvents extraction-based detoxification to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of steam-exploded lignocellulosic biomass and recover bioactive compounds

A novel strategy for pre-treated biomass detoxification combining emerging green solvents and low environmental impact extraction technologies was evaluated. Steam-exploded biomass was subjected to microwave-assisted or orbital shaking extraction using bio-based or eutectic solvents. The extracted biomass was enzymatically hydrolysed. The potential of this detoxification methodology was studied in terms of phenolic inhibitors extraction and sugar production improvement. The effect of adding a post-extraction water washing step before hydrolysis was also evaluated. Excellent results were achieved when steam-exploded biomass was subjected to the microwave-assisted extraction combined with the washing step. The highest sugar production was achieved when ethyl lactate was used as extraction agent (49.80 ± 3.10 g total sugar/L) over the control (30.43 ± 0.34 g total sugar/L). Results suggested that a detoxification step based on green solvents would be a promising option to extract phenolic inhibitors, which can be revalorized as antioxidants, and improve the sugar production from the extracted pre-treated biomass.

Synthesis and characterization of starch nanocellulosic films incorporated with Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract

Carrot cellulose nano fibers (CNF) have been extracted from carrot pulp using acid hydrolysis process. The size of the CNF was in the range of 6.33-58.77 nm. Starch nano-composite films were manufactured using varying concentration of CNF (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) and mechanical properties of the films were studied at relative humidity 50% and 75%. Nano-composite films were manufactured using Eucalyptus globulus leafs extract (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%). Physio-chemical properties, antioxidant, antimicrobial, morphological and crystalline properties of the films were studied. Nano-composite films with 4% Eucalyptus globulus leafs extract was best to provide better barrier, antioxidant properties to grapes when wrapped and stored at room temperature (25 ± 2)°C for 7 days and refrigerator temperature (4 ± 1)°C for 28 days. Wrapped grapes with NCC/Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract stored for 28 days either at 25 °C or 4 °C had bacterial surface loads reduced up to 5 orders of magnitude compared to non-wrapped samples and had 4 orders of magnitude less bacterial surface loads than at the beginning of the experiments. Wrapped grapes with NCC/Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract significantly reduced the growth of Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium and Penicillium spp. when the cells of these organisms were spiked onto grapes and the samples were stored either at (25 ± 2) °C or (4 ± 1) °C for 28 days. The results showed that nano-composite with 4% Eucalyptus globulus leafs extract films have immense potential as food packaging/wrapping material.

Short-Time Hydrothermal Treatment of Poplar Wood for the Production of a Lignin-Derived Polyphenol Antioxidant

Artificial antioxidants are synthesized from fossil sources and are now widely used in the polymer, food, and cosmetics industries. The gradual depletion of fossil resources makes it practically significant and necessary to produce green antioxidants from renewable lignocellulosic resources. Herein, short-time hydrothermal (STH) treatment was developed for production of lignin-derived polyphenol antioxidants (LPAs) from poplar wood under conditions of high temperature and high pressure. LPA yields from 21.5 to 37.6 % on the basis of lignin in untreated wood were obtained by STH treatments as result of lignin depolymerization at 190-200 °C and 10 MPa in 5-8 min. Depolymerization reactions were confirmed by the much lower molecular weight of LPA (1076 g mol^-1 ) than that of native lignin (4094 g mol^-1 ). NMR spectroscopy revealed the structural features of lignin in the isolated LPA, namely syringyl and guaiacyl units with well-preserved interunit linkages. A Folin-Ciocalteu assay indicated that each LPA molecule contained 5.4 phenolic hydroxyl groups on average, much more than other technical lignins. The remarkable antioxidant ability of LPA was verified by the radical-scavenging index of 53.5-67.3, much higher than 0.2-11.1 of the commercial antioxidants butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). STH treatment only requires water and heat for production of high-value antioxidant, which provides a green and sustainable method for the utilization of lignocelluloses.

Antioxidants Profiling of By-Products from Eucalyptus Greenboards Manufacture

Three different by-products from the Eucalyptus wood industry have been exhaustively characterized to find compounds with antioxidant properties. The industrial process to manufacture Eucalyptus greenboards is distinguished by using just wood and water, which converts the generated by-products in a highly attractive source of bioactive compounds that are originally in the raw material. The studied by-products were: the screw water, derived from the washing of the wood chips; the condensates, obtained after the evaporation and further condensation of the screw water; and finally, the concentrate of eucalyptus. For all of them and for their derived organic extracts, the total polyphenols content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) have been evaluated. The chromatographic fingerprints, based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) have been obtained to identify the main extractable organic wood components. Besides, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has been employed to characterize the most volatile compounds. Significant differences were observed for the chromatographic profiles of the studied by-products. Up to 48 and 30 different compounds were identified in the screw water, and condensate by-products, respectively; whereas the highest number of compounds, up to 72, have been identified in the organic extracts derived from the concentrate of Eucalyptus, highlighting the presence of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, polyphenols, and other bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties. Therefore, these by-products could be exploited to obtain natural extracts with added value which could be reused in the food, cosmetic or pharmaceutical industry, reducing the environmental impact of the industrial activity.

Gallic acid influence on bovine serum albumin thermal stability

A thermoanalytical approach reveals the dual action of GA on BSA thermal stability.

Total phenolic content, in vitro antioxidant activity and chemical composition of plant extracts from semiarid Mexican region

OBJECTIVE

To determine the extraction suitable conditions of total phenolic content (TPC) by heat-reflux system, antioxidant activities and HPLC characterization of the aqueous-ethanolic extracts of Jatropha dioica (J. dioica) (Dragon's blood), Flourensia cernua (F. cernua) (Tar bush), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (E. camaldulensis) (Eucalyptus) and Turnera diffusa (T. diffusa) (Damiana).

METHODS

TPC was evaluated by the well-known colorimetric assay using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. The antioxidant activities were assayed by three methods based on scavenging of DPPH, ABTS and by lipid oxidation inhibition. The chemical composition of the extracts obtained was subject to HPLC analysis.

RESULTS

TPC in the plant extracts ranged from 2.3 to 14.12 mg gallic acid equivalents/g for J. dioica and E. camaldulensis, respectively. The plant extracts of F. cernua, E. camaldulensis and T. diffusa showed similar strong antioxidant activities on scavenging of DPPH and lipid oxidation inhibition. In contrast, J. dioica extracts had lowest potential antioxidant in three assays used. HPLC assay showed the presence of several phenolic compounds in the extracts used.

CONCLUSIONS

The results obtained suggest that F. cernua, E. camaldulensis and T. diffusa are potential sources to obtain bioactive phenolic compounds with high antioxidant properties which can be used in the factories as antioxidant agents or for treatments in diseases.

Gallic acid: a versatile antioxidant with promising therapeutic and industrial applications

Oxidative stress, a result of an overproduction and accumulation of free radicals, is the leading cause of several degenerative diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, ageing and inflammatory diseases.

Solvent extraction of antioxidants from steam exploded sugarcane bagasse and enzymatic convertibility of the solid fraction

Solvent extraction of steam exploded lignocellulosic biomass may be a potential way to obtain antioxidative extracts and to enhance the enzymatic convertibility of the solid residue. Boiling solvent extraction (BSE) showed higher solid and phenolic yields than room temperature extraction. Solubilities of phenolics and sugars were higher in anhydrous ethanol (AE) and deionized water (DW) than in ethyl acetate under each individual extraction condition. The antioxidant activities of the AE and DW extract obtained under BSE were better than those of 10mM vitamin C. Conversion of the solid fractions into reducing sugar using Celluclast 1.5L and Novozym 188 after AE and DW extraction was 95.13% and 92.97%, respectively, higher than that obtained with SESB (88.95%).

Solvatochromic behavior of the electronic absorption spectra of gallic acid and some of its azo derivatives

The electronic absorption spectra of gallic acid and its azo derivatives have been studied in various solvents of different polarities. Multiple regression techniques were applied to calculate the regression and correlation coefficients based on an equation that relates the wavenumbers of the absorption band maxima (υ(max)(-)) to the solvent parameters; refractive index (n), dielectric constant (D), empirical Kamlet-Taft solvent parameters, π*(dipolarity/polarizability), α (solvent hydrogen-bond donor acidity) and β (solvent hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity). The fitting coefficient obtained from this analysis allows estimating the contribution of each type of interactions relative to total spectral shifts in solution. The dependence of υ(max)(-) on the solvent parameters indicates that the obtained bands are affected by specific and non-specific solute-solvent interactions.

Antioxidant activity of lignin phenolic compounds extracted from kraft and sulphite black liquors

The antioxidant activity of the phenolic compounds present in industrial black liquors obtained from the two cooking processes (kraft and sulphite) used in Portugal to produce Eucalyptus globulus pulp was evaluated. The black liquors treated at several pH values were extracted with ethyl acetate. Phenolic fractions were further separated by liquid chromatography of the crude extracts of kraft liquor at pH = 6 and sulphite liquor at the original pH. Total phenolic content was determined in terms of gallic acid equivalents (Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method), and the antioxidant activity in the crude extracts at several pH values and in the separated fractions was measured using the DPPH test for radical scavenging capacity. The total phenolic content of crude extracts and separated fractions ranged from 92.7 to 181.6 and from 91.6 to 1,099.6 mg GAE/g, respectively, while the antioxidant activity index (AAI) ranged from 2.20 to 3.41 and from 2.21 to 11.47 respectively, showing very strong antioxidant activity in all studied cases. The fractions separated by column chromatography were submitted to mass spectrometry analysis and the results were compared to others in the literature of natural products, mainly from Eucalyptus, and the characteristic bands of functional groups were identified by ¹H-NMR and FTIR. These methods allowed the identification of 17 phenolic compounds.

Topical delivery of retinyl ascorbate: 4. Comparative anti-oxidant activity towards DPPH

The free radical scavenging properties of retinyl ascorbate (RA-AsA) were determined by monitoring the decomposition of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) as a function of time and in comparison with ascorbic acid (AsA), ascorbic acid palmitate (AsA-Pal), retinoic acid (RA), retinol (ROL) and retinol palmitate (Rol-Pal). The rate constant of RA-AsA (mean3+/-SD) was 4.9+/-0.3 M(-1) s(-1), and indicated greater potency as an antioxidant compared to the rest of the test compounds (AsA 3.4+/-0.4 M(-1) s(-1), AsA-Pal, 2.9+/-0.2 M(-1) s(-1), RA 1.4+/-0.3 M(-1) s(-1), ROL 1.3+/-0.1 M(-1) s(-1), Rol-Pal exhibited insignificant activity). The decomposition rate constant of DPPH, 5+/-0.6 x 10(-8) M(-1) s(-1), in ethanol and BHA, 154+/-3 M(-1) s(-1) were both used as control. The compound RA-2-carboxy-2-hydroxy-ethanoate was isolated by prep-TLC and was identified, by 13C and 1HNMR spectroscopy, as the major by-product from the reaction of RA-AsA with DPPH, which was also found to be potent antioxidant, 2.1+/-0.2 M(-1) s(-1). This suggests that oxidation of AsA moiety did not lead to the production of erythrulose species, which could cause deleterious modifications of cellular proteins.

Oxygen and nitrogen reactive species are effectively scavenged by Eucalyptus globulus leaf water extract

Eucalyptus globulus Labill. (Family Myrtaceae) is a plant of Australian origin, with a reported therapeutic use in airway inflammatory diseases. Considering that reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of airway inflammatory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an effective scavenging activity against these reactive species may contribute for the therapeutic effect of this plant. In the present study, a water extract of E. globulus leaves was evaluated for its putative in vitro scavenging effects on ROS (HO(*), O(2)(*-), ROO(*), and H(2)O(2)) and RNS ((*)NO and ONOO(-)) and on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH). Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the extract's phenolic composition were also performed. The Eucalyptus leaf water extract presented a remarkable capacity to scavenge all the reactive species tested, with all the 50% inhibitory concentrations being found at the mug/mL level. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of polyphenols such as flavonoids (rutin and quercitrin) and phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid and ellagic acid), which may be partially responsible for the observed antioxidant activity. These observations provide further support, beyond the well-known antibacterial and antiviral activities of the Eucalyptus plant, for its reported use in traditional medicine such as in the treatment of airway inflammatory diseases, considering the important role of ROS and RNS in the inflammatory process, although further studies are needed to prove the bioavailability of the antioxidants/antibacterial compounds of the extract as well as the ability of the active compounds to reach specific tissues and to act in them.

Kinetic Behavior of Candida guilliermondii Yeast during Xylitol Production from Brewerapos;s Spent Grain Hemicellulosic Hydrolysate

Brewer's spent grain, the main byproduct of breweries, was hydrolyzed with dilute sulfuric acid to produce a hemicellulosic hydrolysate (containing xylose as the main sugar). The obtained hydrolysate was used as cultivation medium by Candidaguilliermondii yeast in the raw form (containing 20 g/L xylose) and after concentration (85 g/L xylose), and the kinetic behavior of the yeast during xylitol production was evaluated in both media. Assays in semisynthetic media were also performed to compare the yeast performance in media without toxic compounds. According to the results, the kinetic behavior of the yeast cultivated in raw hydrolysate was as effective as in semisynthetic medium containing 20 g/L xylose. However, in concentrated hydrolysate medium, the xylitol production efficiency was 30.6% and 42.6% lower than in raw hydrolysate and semisynthetic medium containing 85 g/L xylose, respectively. In other words, the xylose-to-xylitol bioconversion from hydrolysate medium was strongly affected when the initial xylose concentration was increased; however, similar behavior did not occur from semisynthetic media. The lowest efficiency of xylitol production from concentrated hydrolysate can be attributed to the high concentration of toxic compounds present in this medium, resulting from the hydrolysate concentration process.

A Microspheric System: Hemicellulose-based Hydrogels

Hydrogel microspheres were prepared from the major softwood hemicellulose polysaccharide acetylated galactoglucomannan. The dry and swollen morphology was assessed by scanning electron microscopy. The microspheres were loaded with either a small hydrophilic substance (caffeine) or a macromolecular model protein (bovine serum albumin) and afforded diffusion controlled release in vitro. Statistical multivariate analysis was used to systematically determine the influence and significance of the hydrogel composition, the crosslinking density, and the dimensions of the incorporated substance on the microsphere size and release rate.

Purification of Xylitol from Fermented Hemicellulosic Hydrolyzate Using Liquid–Liquid Extraction and Precipitation Techniques

Xylitol was produced by Candida guilliermondii by fermentation of sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate. Undesirable impurities were extracted from the broth using either ethyl acetate, chloroform or dichloromethane. The best results on clarification of the broth without xylitol loss were obtained with ethyl acetate. When ethanol, acetone or tetrahydrofuran were used for precipitation of impurities, only tetrahydrofuran clarified the fermented broth, but a high xylitol loss (approximately 30%) was observed.

Assessment of the production of antioxidants from winemaking waste solids

Winemaking waste solids (WS, resulting from red grapes after fermentation and distillation to recover spirits) were subjected to various processing schemes for isolating fractions with antioxidant activity. The liquors entrapped in WS as received were separated by pressing and freeze-dried to yield a fraction with antioxidant activity (measured as DPPH radical scavenging capacity) comparable to those of synthetic antioxidants. A second approach based on the direct processing of raw WS in sulfuric acid medium under fixed operational conditions and further extraction of hydrolysis liquors with ethyl acetate enabled the isolation of a fraction with higher antioxidant ability at an improved yield. The most favorable approach started with a washing stage leading to liquors (which were directly freeze-dried to yield 1.20 g of extract/100 g of oven-dry WS and presented an EC50 of 0.41 g of extract/L) and washed solids, which were dried and subjected to hydrolytic processing (i) with water as a reactive in an autocatalyzed reaction (autohydrolysis) or (ii) with sulfuric acid solutions to give an ethyl acetate-soluble fraction with improved antioxidant properties (EC50 in the range of 0.18-0.40 g/L). Samples from washing liquors and processing of washed solids in aqueous medium were subjected to chromatographic fractionation and analysis to give isolates with remarkable antioxidant activity (with EC50 as low as 0.07 g/L) and to identify their major components.