Antioxidant Properties of Agri-Food Byproducts and Specific Boosting Effects of Hydrolytic Treatments
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Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Cintia 4, I-80126 Naples, Italy
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Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Metalurgía, Universidad de Sonora, Del Conocimiento, Centro, 83000 Hermosillo, Mexico
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Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, I-20133 Milan, Italy
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Unitech COSPECT, Direzione servizi per la Ricerca, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via C. Golgi 33, I-20133 Milan, Italy
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Centro Ricerche per la Chimica Fine Srl for Silvateam Spa, Via Torre 7, I-12080 San Michele Mondovì, CN, Italy
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CSGI—Consorzio Sistemi a Grande Interfase, Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Antioxidants 2020, 9(5), 438; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox9050438
Received: 30 April 2020 / Revised: 13 May 2020 / Accepted: 15 May 2020 / Published: 18 May 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Antioxidants in 2020)
Largely produced agri-food byproducts represent a sustainable and easily available source of phenolic compounds, such as lignins and tannins, endowed with potent antioxidant properties. We report herein the characterization of the antioxidant properties of nine plant-derived byproducts. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assays indicated the superior activity of pomegranate peels and seeds, grape pomace and pecan nut shell. An increase in the antioxidant potency was observed for most of the waste materials following a hydrolytic treatment, with the exception of the condensed tannin-rich pecan nut shell and grape pomace. UV-Vis and HPLC investigation of the soluble fractions coupled with the results from IR analysis and chemical degradation approaches on the whole materials allowed to conclude that the improvement of the antioxidant properties was due not only to removal of non-active components (mainly carbohydrates), but also to structural modifications of the phenolic compounds. Parallel experiments run on natural and bioinspired model phenolic polymers suggested that these structural modifications positively impacted on the antioxidant properties of lignins and hydrolyzable tannins, whereas significant degradation of condensed tannin moieties occurred, likely responsible for the lowering of the reducing power observed for grape pomace and pecan nut shell. These results open new perspectives toward the exploitation and manipulation of agri-food byproducts for application as antioxidant additives in functional materials.