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The aim of the current research was to investigate and compare the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of sweet pepper cultivars at different development and maturation stages, in order to optimize the beneficial effects. For that purpose, three important sweet pepper cultivars, namely Dolmy-F1, Yahoo-F1 and Florinis-NS-700, were cultivated in a greenhouse. Their total phenolic content, ascorbic acid content and antioxidant properties were assessed at different development and maturation stages. In the aforementioned cultivars, the total phenolic content ranged from 345.2 to 602.1, 404.9 to 794.5, and 795.7 to 2220.3 μg GAE g-1 FW respectively. The ascorbic acid content ranged from 236 to 957, 258 to 1157, and 410 to 1550 μg AA g-1 FW respectively. The highest antioxidant activity was noted at the red maturity stage. Particularly the cultivar Florinis NS 700 was found to possess higher total phenolic, flavonoid phenol, non-flavonoid phenol, ascorbic acid contents, and greater antioxidant capacity, compared to the other cultivars. The results of our study recommend the consumption of the sweet peppers at red maturity stage, for achieving the maximum health-beneficial effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of both calcareous and siliceous Greek power station by-products (lignite ashes) into novel composite materials with photocatalytic properties for environmental application was investigated. Particularly, a comparison between the development of coated ceramic substrates and the modification of ash surfaces is attempted. Specifically, a) the sintering process (1000 °C, 2 h) of both fly and bottom ash (either calcareous or siliceous) for their conversion into compacted ceramic substrates coated with TiO2 slurry and then further thermally treated (500 °C, 1 h) to acquire TiO2 film consistency onto the ceramic substrate and b) the process of TiO2 precipitation on lignite ash surfaces in acidic solution after neutralization, and estimation of the TiO2 percentage, are compared. The microstructures obtained were examined by XRD and SEM-EDX analysis. Vickers microhardness was also determined for the ceramic microstructures, with satisfactory results (up to 356HV). The energy gap measurements of the coatings were found to be between 3.02eV and 3.17eV, which is located between the energy gap of anatase (3.23eV) and rutile (3.02eV). The coating mass was about 0.059 g/cm2. The photocatalytic activity under visible and UV irradiation was investigated in aqueous solutions of methylene blue and methyl orange organic dyes, with encouraging results. A main advantage of the processes proposed is the immobilization of TiO2 onto largely available secondary resources, which can lead to production of value-added 'green' photocatalysts for the treatment of industrial effluents in the framework of circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]