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The production and consumption of coffee generates large amounts of waste which, if released into the environment, could cause unacceptable pollution. The search for alternatives for the use of these waste materials, namely coffee silver skin (CSS) and spent coffee grounds (SCG), is of great importance from an environmental and economic point of view. In this context, the present study was conducted to evaluate the use of CSS and SCG as mineral sources in order to strengthen their status as novel foods, which is currently not recognised. With the aim of validating the content of metals and metalloids in CSS and SCG, a comparative study of green and roasted coffee was also conducted. The results of the HR-ICP-MS analyses showed that coffee and coffee by-products contain high levels of macro essential elements: K (2387–35 993 mg/kg), Mg (1263–5298 mg/kg) and Na (82.6–170 mg/kg). Among the essential trace elements, Fe predominated with amounts between 41.8 and 728 mg/kg. The essential elements in the ultra-trace range (Mo, Cr, Co and Se) are found in amounts between 0.02 and 2.42 mg/kg. The content of toxic elements (Pb, As, Cd and Sn) is in the range of 0.01–0.25 mg/kg, which is below the maximum levels set by the EU Commission for these elements in foodstuff. However, the levels of Rb, Ba, Sr, Ti and Al are high, and range from 2.33 to 764 mg/kg. Considering the high content of essential elements in CSSs that are useful for daily human needs, the potential use of CSS should be encouraged. On the other hand, in order to meet the requirements for the use of novel foods, monitoring of potentially toxic elements must be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of sound-absorbing panels which used coffee-silver-skin (CS) and melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) as a composite board was studied. In this experiment, the objective was to examine the impact on the sound absorption coefficient (SAC) when incorporating wood husk into the composite board, specifically in the cases of CS (100%) and CS (90%) mixed with wood husk (10%), while simultaneously reducing the amount of MUF adhesive and adding corn starch (25%). It was observed that as the MUF content of the board decreased to 75%, the sound absorption coefficient average (SAA) were found to be 0.59 and 0.62 for the middle- and high-frequency ranges, respectively. For the frequency range higher than 3.15 kHz, the maximum SAC value of sample boards was 0.91 and the noise reduction coefficient (NRC) value was 0.47. While, the result showed the maximum SAC and the NRC value of sample boards were 0.93 and 0.48, respectively above the frequency range higher than 1.25 kHz for decreasing the MUF adhesive of board to 50%. Similarly, the addition of wood husk and corn starch mixed to CS could increase the SAA value of sample boards in the middle- and high-frequency range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]