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The olive oil industry is a sector of high relevance in the economy of the European Union; indeed, three quarters of the world production is concentrated in the South Europe. Unfortunately, the commonly used milling techniques generate huge amounts of highly polluting olive mill wastewater (OMWW) as a side-product. If released in the environment, untreated OMWW have a detrimental impact on land and water because of the large amount of phytotoxic phenolic compounds contained. At the same time, due to their powerful antiradical properties, polyphenols represent the center of a very valuable market niche, where they find application in cosmetic and nutraceutic fields. Consequently, the mandatory (for evident environmental reasons) depollution of OMWW associated with an efficient and selective recovery of the phenolic fraction could be economically very advantageous. In the present study, a new methodology employing activated charcoal as the adsorbent phase was developed in order to depollute OMWW and simultaneously recover a fraction enriched in hydroxytyrosol, the most abundant and valuable phenolic compound present in this matrix. Moreover, to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of the process at a pre-industrial level, this strategy was submitted to a scale-up process and a pilot plant prototype was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain and other nervous system cancers are the 10th leading cause of death worldwide. Genome instability, cell cycle deregulation, epigenetic mechanisms, cytoarchitecture disassembly, redox homeostasis as well as apoptosis are involved in carcinogenesis. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is inversely related with the risk of developing cancer. Several studies report that cruciferous vegetables exhibited antiproliferative effects due to the multi-pharmacological functions of their secondary metabolites such as isothiocyanate sulforaphane deriving from the enzymatic hydrolysis of glucosinolates. We treated human astrocytoma 1321N1 cells for 24 h with different concentrations (0.5, 1.25 and 2.5% v/v) of sulforaphane plus active myrosinase (Rapha Myr®) aqueous extract (10 mg/mL). Cell viability, DNA fragmentation, PARP-1 and γH2AX expression were examined to evaluate genotoxic effects of the treatment. Cell cycle progression, p53 and p21 expression, apoptosis, cytoskeleton morphology and cell migration were also investigated. In addition, global DNA methylation, DNMT1 mRNA levels and nuclear/mitochondrial sirtuins were studied as epigenetic biomarkers. Rapha Myr® exhibited low antioxidant capability and exerted antiproliferative and genotoxic effects on 1321N1 cells by blocking the cell cycle, disarranging cytoskeleton structure and focal adhesions, decreasing the integrin α5 expression, renewing anoikis and modulating some important epigenetic pathways independently of the cellular p53 status. In addition, Rapha Myr® suppresses the expression of the oncogenic p53 mutant protein. These findings promote Rapha Myr® as a promising chemotherapeutic agent for integrated cancer therapy of human astrocytoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valorization of food wastes is a challenging opportunity for a green, sustainable, and competitive development of industry. Approximately 30 million m3 of olive mill wastewater (OMWW) are produced annually in the world as a by-product of the olive oil extraction process. In addition to being a serious environmental and economic issue because of their polluting load, OMWW can also represent a precious resource of high-added-value molecules such as polyphenols that show acclaimed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and can find useful applications in the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, the possibility to develop novel nutraceutical ophthalmic formulations containing free radical scavengers would represent an important therapeutic opportunity for all inflammatory diseases of the ocular surface. In this work, different adsorbents were tested to selectively recover a fraction that is rich in polyphenols from OMWW. Afterward, cytotoxicity and antioxidant/anti-inflammatory activities of polyphenolic fraction were evaluated through in vitro tests. Our results showed that the fraction (0.01%) had no toxic effects and was able to protect cells against oxidant and inflammatory stimulus, reducing reactive oxygen species and TNF-α levels. Finally, a novel stable ophthalmic hydrogel containing a polyphenolic fraction (0.01%) was formulated and the technical and economic feasibility of the process at a pre-industrial level was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]