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Food Waste and Circular Bioeconomy: New Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 62243

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Roberta Costi

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Guest Editor

Dipartimento di Chimica e Tecnologie del Farmaco, Sapienza Università di Roma, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy
Interests: drug design; antiviral agents; anticancer; antiparasitic

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food waste is a biodegradable waste omnipresent in every corner of the world. It is discharged from food processing industries, households, and hospitality sectors representing also a major part of the municipal solid waste. Thus, nowadays food waste is one of the most challenging issue humankind is facing all over the world. Efficient and feasible utilization of this waste material for productivity process is significant for both economical and environmental reasons. Indeed, it serves as an excellent source of value added products owing to high organic content. Notably, the value added products from food waste will be very eco-friendly. The management of food waste can be done by conversion to different value-added products, for example, phytochemicals, food supplements, dietary fibers, biopigments and colorants, emulsifiers, biopreservatives, biofertilizers, and biofuels. It is worthy of note that the conversion of food waste to valuable by-products in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical fields has been a scientific hotspot in recent decades and it has more and more matters of interests.

Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to highlight new challenges in the application of food waste as source for nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical formulations, with a focus on recent advances of techniques for extraction and characterization of food waste organic components, valuing the food supply chain by-products and waste streams.

Prof. Dr. Roberta Costi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

carotenoids
polyphenols
circular bioeconomy
green extraction methodologies
nutraceuticals
pharmaceuticals
bioactive compounds
food waste
inflammation
cancer
metabolic diseases
food waste characterization

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 5090 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metabolic Profile of Agropyron repens (L.) P. Beauv. Rhizome Herbal Tea by HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS Analysis

by Martina Bortolami, Paola Di Matteo, Daniele Rocco, Marta Feroci and Rita Petrucci

Molecules 2022, 27(15), 4962; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27154962 - 04 Aug 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1869

Abstract

Agropyron repens (L.) P. Beauv. (couch grass) is a world-wide infesting rhizomatous plant with pharmacological applications. Chemical research is focused on its allelopathic and anti-inflammatory components, which are mainly present in the essential oil. Conversely, the aqueous extracts have been sparingly investigated, although the herbal tea is by far the most used formulation. To fill the gap, the metabolic profile of Agropyron repens rhizome herbal tea was investigated by electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem–mass spectrometry (MS/MS); the phenolic profile was investigated by HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS. ESI-MS fingerprinting was provided, evidencing diagnostic ions for saccharides, organic acids and amino acids. The HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS analysis evidenced at least 20 characteristic phenolic compounds, the most representative being caffeoyl and feruloyl quinic esters, followed by coumaric, caffeic and ferulic acids, and hesperidin among flavonoids. In addition, the essential amino acid tryptophan was identified for the first time. The results suggest new perspectives of applications for Agropyron repens rhizome. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste and Circular Bioeconomy: New Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical)

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18 pages, 3114 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Anticancer Activity of Aqueous Extracts from Asparagus officinalis L. Byproduct on Breast Cancer Cells

by Arianna Romani, Fabio Casciano, Claudia Stevanin, Annalisa Maietti, Paola Tedeschi, Paola Secchiero, Nicola Marchetti and Rebecca Voltan

Molecules 2021, 26(21), 6369; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26216369 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2628

Abstract

Cultivation of asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.; Asp) for food and medicinal use has taken place since the early Roman Empire. Today, Asp represents a worldwide diffuse perennial crop. Lower portions of the spears represent a food industry waste product that can be used to extract bioactive molecules. In this study, aqueous extracts derived from the non-edible portion of the plant (hard stem) were prepared and characterized for chemical content. Furthermore, the biocompatibility and bioactivity of Asp aqueous extracts were assessed in vitro on normal fibroblasts and on breast cancer cell lines. Results showed no interference with fibroblast viability, while a remarkable cytostatic concentration-dependent activity, with significant G1/S cell cycle arrest, was specifically observed in breast cancer cells without apoptosis induction. Asp extracts were also shown to significantly inhibit cell migration. Further analyses showed that Asp extracts were characterized by specific pro-oxidant activity against tumoral cells, and, importantly, that their combination with menadione resulted in a significant enhancement of oxidants production with respect to menadione alone in breast cancer cells but not in normal cells. This selectivity of action on tumoral cells, together with the easiness of their preparation, makes the aqueous Asp extracts very attractive for further investigation in breast cancer research, particularly to investigate their role as possible co-adjuvant agents of clinical drug therapies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste and Circular Bioeconomy: New Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical)

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15 pages, 1126 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chemical Profile and Biological Activity of Cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) and Atemoya (Annona atemoya) Leaves

by Giuseppe Mannino, Carla Gentile, Alessandra Porcu, Chiara Agliassa, Fabio Caradonna and Cinzia Margherita Bertea

Molecules 2020, 25(11), 2612; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25112612 - 04 Jun 2020

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 5744

Abstract

Annona cherimola (Cherimoya) and Annona atemoya (Atemoya) are tropical plants known for their edible fruit. Scientific data suggest that their leaves, used in traditional medicine in the form of teas or infusions without evidence of toxicity, contain several bioactive compounds. However, only Annona muricata among all the Annona species is currently used in the nutraceutical field, and its dried leaves are marketed for tea preparation. In this work, we explored the nutraceutical potential of Atemoya and Cherimoya leaves, by evaluating their chemical profile and functional properties. Phytochemical analyses showed large amounts of phenolic compounds, in particular proanthocyanidins, and identified 18 compounds, either flavonoids or alkaloids. Concerning biological activity, we found antioxidative properties correlated with polyphenols, and antiproliferative activity against HeLa and HepG2 cell lines correlated with alkaloids. The obtained results demonstrate the potential use of Annona cherimola leaves for the preparation of dietary supplements aimed to promote the physiological redox balance. Moreover, the varietal comparison suggests that two commercial cultivars (Campas and White) and the local Torre 1, better suit this purpose. On the other hand, among the studied cultivars, Campas and Torre 1 are also the richest in alkaloids and, in consideration of the anti-proliferative properties of their extracts, dietary supplements based on these cultivars might also have chemo-preventive effects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste and Circular Bioeconomy: New Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical)

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Review

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30 pages, 3844 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recovery of Banana Waste-Loss from Production and Processing: A Contribution to a Circular Economy

by Sasha Alzate Acevedo, Álvaro José Díaz Carrillo, Edwin Flórez-López and Carlos David Grande-Tovar

Molecules 2021, 26(17), 5282; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26175282 - 31 Aug 2021

Cited by 62 | Viewed by 45853

Abstract

Banana is a fruit grown mainly in tropical countries of the world. After harvest, almost 60% of banana biomass is left as waste. Worldwide, about 114.08 million metric tons of banana waste-loss are produced, leading to environmental problems such as the excessive emission of greenhouse gases. These wastes contain a high content of paramount industrial importance, such as cellulose, hemicellulose and natural fibers that various processes can modify, such as bacterial fermentation and anaerobic degradation, to obtain bioplastics, organic fertilizers and biofuels such as ethanol, biogas, hydrogen and biodiesel. In addition, they can be used in wastewater treatment methods by producing low-cost biofilters and obtaining activated carbon from rachis and banana peel. Furthermore, nanometric fibers commonly used in nanotechnology applications and silver nanoparticles useful in therapeutic cancer treatments, can be produced from banana pseudostems. The review aims to demonstrate the contribution of the recovery of banana production waste-loss towards a circular economy that would boost the economy of Latin America and many other countries of emerging economies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste and Circular Bioeconomy: New Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical)

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18 pages, 626 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Advances in Recovery of Lycopene from Tomato Waste: A Potent Antioxidant with Endless Benefits

by Valentina Noemi Madia, Daniela De Vita, Davide Ialongo, Valeria Tudino, Alessandro De Leo, Luigi Scipione, Roberto Di Santo, Roberta Costi and Antonella Messore

Molecules 2021, 26(15), 4495; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26154495 - 26 Jul 2021

Cited by 45 | Viewed by 4842

Abstract

Growing attention to environmental protection leads food industries to adopt a model of “circular economy” applying safe and sustainable technologies to recover, recycle and valorize by-products. Therefore, by-products become raw material for other industries. Tomato processing industry produces significant amounts of by-products, consisting of skins and seeds. Tomato skin is very rich in lycopene, and from its seeds, high nutritional oil can be extracted. Alternative use of the two fractions not only could cut disposal costs but also allow one to extract bioactive compounds and an oil with a high nutritional value. This review focused on the recent advance in extraction of lycopene, whose beneficial effects on health are widely recognized. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Waste and Circular Bioeconomy: New Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical)

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