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Extracting The extraction of cellulose and lignin from biomass is essential for the development of sustainable bio-based materials. This study examines the effects of physical pretreatment techniques-ultrasound (US), pulsed electric fields (PEF), and high-voltage electrical discharges (HVED)-on the efficiency of alkali treatment for cellulose and lignin extraction from walnut shells. The primary objective was to enhance extraction yields and improve extract quality while evaluating the effectiveness of these methods. The results revealed that the combined treatments achieved lignin and cellulose yields of up to 17.03 % and 33.40 %, respectively, with US and HVED showing significantly higher extraction efficiencies compared to other techniques. Characterization of the extracted materials using FTIR, XRD, 2D HSQC NMR, TGA/DTG, and DSC confirmed the presence of key functional groups, crystalline structures, and detailed molecular features, while also providing insights into thermal stability. These findings underscore the potential of walnut shells as a sustainable source for bio-based materials and demonstrate the influence of physical pretreatments on the structural and thermal properties of extracted cellulose and lignin. This study paves the way for further research into industrial applications, such as wood adhesives. Future work should focus on optimizing extraction processes, scaling up operations, and investigating the effects of biomass variability on extraction outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated the effects of microwave treatment combined with lysine and arginine on gluten-free quinoa sponge cakes. The results indicated that the addition of these amino acids during microwave treatment significantly increased the cakes' specific volume by 49 %. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that cake crystallinity reached 56.23 % and 49.17 % when lysine and arginine were used, respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy showed confirmed the absence of new functional groups or chemical bonds under different treatments, but the absorbance ratio at 1047 cm -1 to 1022 cm -1 was higher in microwave-treated cakes with lysine compared to traditionally steamed cakes. Simulated digestion experiments demonstrated that microwave-treated cakes, especially with added amino acids, exhibited higher protein digestibility but lower starch digestibility. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy observations further showed that proteins formed a denser network structure around starch granules during in vitro digestion, suggesting improved protein functionality and structure in microwave-treated quinoa sponge cakes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Tea, one of the most popular beverages worldwide, generates a substantial amount of spent leaves, often directly discarded although they may still contain valuable compounds. This study aims to optimize the extraction of polyphenols from spent black tea (SBT) and spent green tea (SGT) leaves while also exploring their antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Response surface methodology was utilized to determine the optimal experimental conditions for extracting polyphenols from SBT and SGT. The total phenolic content (TPC) was quantified using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, while antioxidant activity was evaluated through the DPPH assay. Antibacterial activity was assessed using the disk diffusion method. Additionally, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was employed to analyze the phytochemical profiles of the SBT and SGT extracts. Optimal extraction for SBT achieved 404 mg GAE/g DM TPC and 51.5% DPPH inhibition at 93.64 °C, 79.9 min, and 59.4% ethanol-water. For SGT, conditions of 93.63 °C, 81.7 min, and 53.2% ethanol-water yielded 452 mg GAE/g DM TPC and 78.3% DPPH inhibition. Both tea extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, with SGT showing greater efficacy against S. aureus and slightly better inhibition of B. subtilis compared to SBT. No activity was observed against the Gram-negative bacteria E. coli and S. typhimurium . HPLC analysis revealed hydroxybenzoic acid as the main phenolic compound in SBT (360.7 mg/L), while rutin was predominant in SGT (42.73 mg/L). The optimized phenolic-rich extracts of SBT and SGT demonstrated promising antioxidant and antibacterial potential, making them strong candidates for use as natural health boosters in food products.

Microalgae contain a diverse range of high-value compounds that can be utilized directly or fractionated to obtain components with even greater value-added potential. With the use of microalgae for food and medical purposes, there is a growing interest in their digestive properties and impact on human gut health. The extraction, separation, and purification of these components are key processes in the industrial application of microalgae. Innovative technologies used to extract and purify microalgal high-added-value compounds are key for their efficient utilization and evaluation. This review's comprehensive literature review was performed to highlight the main high-added-value microalgal components. The technologies for obtaining bioactive compounds from microalgae are being developed rapidly, various innovative, efficient, green separation and purification technologies are emerging, thus helping in the scaling-up and subsequent commercialization of microalgae products. Finally, the digestive behavior of microalgae nutrients and their health effects on the human gut microbiota were discussed. Microalgal nutrients exhibit favorable digestive properties and certain components have been shown to benefit gut microbes. The reality that must be faced is that multiple processes are still required for microalgae raw materials to final usable products, involving energy, time consumption and loss of ingredients, which still face challenges.

In this work, chitin (CT) was isolated from shrimp shell waste (SSW) and was then phosphorylated using diammonium hydrogen phosphate (DAP) as a phosphorylating agent in the presence of urea. The prepared samples were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and EDX-element mapping, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA/DTG), conductometric titration, Degree of Substitution (DS) and contact angle measurements. The results of characterization techniques reveal the successful extraction and phosphorylation of chitin. The charge content of the phosphorylated chitin (P-CT) was 1.510 mmol·kg -1 , the degree of substitution of phosphorus groups grafted on the CT surface achieved the value of 0.33. The adsorption mechanisms appeared to involve electrostatic attachment, specific adsorption (CdO or hydroxyl binding), and ion exchange. Regarding the adsorption of Cd 2+ , the effect of the adsorbent mass, initial concentration of Cd 2+ , contact time, pH, and temperature were studied in batch experiments, and optimum values for each parameter were identified. The experimental results revealed that P-CT enhanced the Cd 2+ removal capacity by 17.5 %. The kinetic analyses favored the pseudo-second-order model over the pseudo-first-order model for describing the adsorption process accurately. Langmuir model aptly represented the adsorption isotherms, suggesting unimolecular layer adsorption with a maximum capacity of 62.71 mg·g -1 under optimal conditions of 30 °C, 120 min, pH 8, and a P-CT dose of 3 g·L -1 . Regeneration experiments evidenced that P-CT can be used for 6 cycles without significant removal capacity loss. Consequently, P-CT presents an efficient and cost-effective potential biosorbent for Cd 2+ removal in wastewater treatment applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To fulfill the unprecedented valorization approaches for lignocellulose, this work focuses on the potential of lignin-derived catalytic systems for bio-remediation, which are natural materials perceived to address the increased demand for eco-conscious catalyzed processes. A useful lignin-functionalized cobalt (Lig-Co) catalyst has been prepared, well-characterized and deployed for the catalyzed reducing decomposition of stable harmful organic pollutants such as methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO), in simple and binary systems. The multifunctional character of lignin and the presence of various active sites can promote effectively loaded metal nanoparticles (NPs). Considerably, optimizing detoxification tests showed that the uncatalyzed use of NaBH 4 as a reductive agent led to an incomplete reduction of organic contaminants over a long period of up to 65 min. Interestingly, Lig-Co catalyst exhibited a high reduction rate and turnover frequency of up to 99.23% and 24.12 min -1 for MB, respectively, while they reached 99.25% and 26.21 min -1 for MO at normal temperature. Kinetically quick catalytic reaction was also demonstrated for the hybrid system, in which the rate constant k was 0.175 s -1 and 0.165 s -1 for MB and MO, respectively, within a distinctly low reaction time of around 120 s. The reproducibility of the Lig-Co catalyst induces a desirable capacity to reduce stable dyes present simultaneously in the binary system, with 6 successive catalytic runs and over 80% of activity retained. Such robust findings underline the considerable interest in developing future lignin-mediated catalytic transformations and upscaling biomass-derived products, to meet the growing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives in various industries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bound phenolic compounds in the melon pulp have seldom been investigated. This study revealed considerable differences in the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of the free and bound phenolic extracts in the pulps of six melon varieties from Hainan Province, China. Naixiangmi and Yugu demonstrated the highest free TPC, while Meilong showed the highest bound and total TPC and antioxidant activity. UHPLC-QQQ-MS identified and quantified 30 phenolic compounds. The melon cultivars markedly differed in the amount and content of their free and bound phenolic compounds. Xizhoumi No. 25 and Meilong afforded the most phenolic compounds. Hongguan emerged with the highest free phenolic compound content and total content of phenolic compounds; however, Meilong possessed the highest bound phenolic compound content. Hierarchical cluster analysis divided the melon varieties into four different taxa. The present study provides a scientific basis for developing the health-promoting effects of melon pulp.

Arsenic (As) is a notorious toxic contamination in marine environments, while the toxicity and health risk of As is highly dependent on As species in seafoods. In this study, we hypothesized that the species-specific As bioaccumulation and species resulted in species-specific healthy risk of As in seaweeds. To test the hypothesis, we collected 10 common edible seaweeds from the coast of Hainan Island in South China Sea. Then we comparatively quantified concentration of total As and 5 major As species [AsB, DMA, MMA, As(III), and As(V)] in seaweeds. The results revealed that the concentrations of total As varied significantly among 10 seaweed species. Specially, the highest total As concentration were found in brown seaweeds, followed by red seaweeds, and green seaweeds. Furthermore, the percentage of 5 As species to total As differed significantly among 10 seaweeds. The percentage of AsB was highest in Caulerpa lentillifera (53%) and lowest in Sargassum oligocystum (13%), while that of As(V) was lowest in Caulerpa lentillifera (21%) and highest in Sargassum oligocystum (81%). The iAs [As(III) + As(V)] exhibited highest value in brown seaweeds and least value in green seaweeds. The potential human health risk assessment indicated that the consumption of brown seaweeds of Sargassum oligocystum and Sargassum polycystum could cause a considerable carcinogenic risk and non-carcinogenic risk to residents. Overall, our findings here largely validated our hypothesis that the species-specific As bioaccumulation and As species had great significance to healthy risk of As in seaweeds., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The overwhelming concerns of water pollution, industrial discharges and environmental deterioration by various organic and inorganic substances, including dyes, heavy metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and detergents, intrinsically drive the search for urgent and efficacious decontamination techniques. This review illustrates the various approaches to remediation, their fundamentals, characteristics and demerits. In this manner, the advantageous implementation of nature-based adsorbents has been outlined and discussed. Different types of lignocellulosic compounds (cellulose, lignin, chitin, chitosan, starch) have been introduced, and the most used biopolymeric materials in bioremediation have been highlighted; their merits, synthesis methods, properties and performances in aqueous medium decontamination have been described. The literature assessment reveals the genuine interest and dependence of academic and industrial fields to valorize biopolymers in the adsorption of various hazardous substances. Yet, the full potential of this approach is still confined by certain constraints, such as the lack of reliable, substantial, and efficient extraction of biopolymers, as well as their modest and inconsistent physicochemical properties. The futuristic reliance on such biomaterials in all fields, rather than adsorption, is inherently reliable on in-depth investigations and understanding of their features and mechanisms, which can guarantee a real-world application and green technologies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Little information is available regarding polyphenol variations in the food processing of edible and medicinal red seaweed, Betaphycus gelatinum . This study investigated the effects of Lactobacillus brevis fermentation on total polyphenol content (TPC), polyphenol profile, and antioxidant activity in Betaphycus gelatinum pretreated by ultrasound-assisted mild acid hydrolysis for the first time. During 60 h of fermentation, the viable colony number significantly increased, pH significantly decreased, and reducing sugar content significantly decreased initially, then significantly increased. Free TPC significantly increased to 865.42 ± 29.29 μg GAE/g DW (163.09% increase) with increasing antioxidant activity, while bound TPC significantly decreased to 1004.90 ± 87.32 μg GAE/g DW (27.69% decrease) with decreasing antioxidant activity. Furthermore, 27 polyphenol compounds were identified by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with Xevo triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. In total, 19 and 23 free polyphenols and 24 and 20 bound polyphenols were identified before and after fermentation, respectively. Before fermentation, bound trans -cinnamic acid (56.75%), bound rosmarinic acid (26.62%), and free trans -cinnamic acid (3.85%) were the main components. After fermentation, free rosmarinic acid (43.57%), bound trans -cinnamic acid (15.19%), bound rosmarinic acid (13.33%), and free trans -cinnamic acid (5.99%) were the main components. These results provide information for the food processing of Betaphycus gelatinum .

This work describes the preparation of new eco-friendly adsorbents with a simple method. Gel beads of coffee grounds cellulose (CGC) and sodium alginate (SA) were prepared for wastewater treatment. Upon their synthesis, the physicochemical properties, performances and efficiency were analyzed by means of various structural and morphological characterizations. Kinetic and thermodynamic adsorption approaches evaluated the removal capacity of these beads which reached equilibrium in 20 min for Methylene Blue (MB) and Congo Red (CR). Also, the kinetics shows that the results can be explained by the pseudo-second-order model (PSO). Furthermore, the isotherm assessments showed that Langmuir-Freundlich can fit the adsorption data of both contaminants. Accordingly, the maximum adsorption capacities reached by the Langmuir-Freundlich model are 400.50 and 411.45 mg/g for MB and CR, respectively. It is interesting to note that the bio-adsorption capabilities of MB and CR on bead hydrogels decreased with temperature. Besides, the results of the thermodynamic study evidenced that the bio-adsorption processes are favorable, spontaneous and exothermic. The CGC/SA gel beads are therefore outstanding bio-adsorbents, offering a great adsorptive performance and regenerative abilities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Gelidium corneum (syn. sesquipedale ) is an industrially and ecologically important species of red alga used for the production of high-quality agar. However, the species is also of growing interest for the production of other valuable compounds, such as mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), with potential cosmeceutical and biomedical applications. Novel methods using two pulsed power techniques, high-voltage electrical discharges (HVED) and pulsed electrical fields (PEF), were evaluated for efficacy of MAA extraction. Algal suspensions were prepared at two ratios (1:20 and 1:40 w : v ). Four different extraction protocols were compared: (i) high-voltage electrical discharges, (ii) pulsed electric fields, (iii) maceration at room temperature, and (iv) maceration at 50 °C. The algae were treated in three states: freshly harvested, dried, and powdered. HVED and PEF treatments were effective when performed on fresh algae, and in particular the HVED treatment resulted in yields of MAAs twenty times higher than the control: 0.81 ± 0.05 mg/g Dry Weight (DW) vs. 0.037 ± 0.002 mg/g DW . This effect was not observed to the same extent when the algae were dried or powdered, although HVED remained the most selective method overall.

Catalytic systems derived from lignin are emerging as quite efficient and profitable materials in many catalyzed transformations. However, these catalysts have been predominantly synthesized by carbonization. Alternatively, we prepared direct sulfonation lignin (DSL) and compared it to the carbonized-sulfonated lignin (CSL) catalyst, aiming to reveal the effects of direct functionalization of lignin on its catalytic performance and to simplify its preparation. Both catalysts were well characterized by several physicochemical techniques, and their catalytic activities were assessed by catalyzed esterification. Using CSL, the yield reached 94.11 % under the optimal conditions (60 °C, 4 h and 50 mg loading), while DSL yielded 93.97 % with only 2 h under the same conditions, which is attributed to the abundant catalytic active sites in DSL (0.62 mmol/g of SO 3 H against 0.39 mmol/g for CSL). Furthermore, the activation energies were found to be 21 and 16 kJ mol -1 for CSL and DSL, respectively, suggesting that esterification can occur with less energy input using DSL. Reusability showed that leaching of SO 3 H groups and mass loss are inherently responsible for deactivation. However, both lignin-based catalysts show good stability and can be reused for 4 successive cycles. Direct lignin functionalization can be an alternative to conventional catalyst processing., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The freshwater microalga Haematococcus pluvialis is well known as the cell factory for natural astaxanthin, which composes up to 4-7% of its total dry weight. The bioaccumulation of astaxanthin in H. pluvialis cysts seems to be a very complex process that depends on different stress conditions during its cultivation. The red cysts of H. pluvialis develop thick and rigid cell walls under stress growing conditions. Thus, the biomolecule extraction requires general cell disruption technologies to reach a high recovery rate. This short review provides an analysis of the different steps in H. pluvialis's up and downstream processing including cultivation and harvesting of biomass, cell disruption, extraction and purification techniques. Useful information on the structure of H. pluvialis's cells, biomolecular composition and properties and the bioactivity of astaxanthin is collected. Special emphasis is given to the recent progress in application of different electrotechnologies during the growth stages and for assistance of the recovery of different biomolecules from H. pluvialis .

Sinapine is a phenolic compound found in mustard ( Brassica juncea ) seed meal. It has numerous beneficial properties such as antitumor, neuroprotective, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective effects, making its extraction relevant. In this study, the extraction of sinapine was investigated using three methods: (i) from a mustard seed meal defatted by a supercritical CO 2 (SC-CO 2 ) pretreatment, (ii) by the implementation of high-voltage electrical discharges (HVEDs), (iii) and by the use of ultrasound. The use of SC-CO 2 pretreatment resulted in a dual effect on the valorization of mustard seed meal, acting as a green solvent for oil recovery and increasing the yield of extracted sinapine by 24.4% compared to the control. The combination of ultrasound and SC-CO 2 pretreatment further increased the yield of sinapine by 32%. The optimal conditions for ultrasound-assisted extraction, determined through a response surface methodology, are a temperature of 75 °C, 70% ethanol, and 100% ultrasound amplitude, resulting in a sinapine yield of 6.90 ± 0.03 mg/g dry matter. In contrast, the application of HVEDs in the extraction process was not optimized, as it led to the degradation of sinapine even at low-energy inputs.

High resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was coupled with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (uHPLC) to monitor atrazine (ATZ) degradation process of Fenton/ultrasound (US) treatment in real time. Samples were automatically taken through a peristaltic pump, and then analysed by HPLC-HRMS. The injection in the mass spectrometer was performed every 4 min for 2 h. ATZ and its degradation metabolites were sampled and identified. Online Fenton experiments in different equivalents of Fenton reagents, online US experiments with/without Fe 2+ and offline Fenton experiments were conducted. Higher equivalents of Fenton reagents promoted the degradation rate of ATZ and the generation of the late-products such as Ammeline (AM). Besides, adding Fe 2+ accelerated ATZ degradation in US treatment. In offline Fenton, the degradation rate of ATZ was higher than that of online Fenton, suggesting the offline samples were still reacting in the vial. The online analysis precisely controls the effect of reagents over time through automatic sampling and rapid detection, which greatly improves the measurement accuracy. The experimental set up proposed here both prevents the degradation of potentially unstable metabolites and provides a good way to track each metabolite.

The current study investigates for the first time the physico-chemical performances of lignins from cactus waste seeds (CWS) and spent coffee (SC) in comparison to previously isolated lignins from sugar byproducts (bagasse (SCB) and beet pulp (SBP)). In this work, lignin-phenol formaldehyde (LPF) resins were formulated using various lignin loadings (5-30 wt%), characterized and applied in the manufacturing of plywood panels. Several characterization techniques were applied to identify the chemical and morphological properties, thermal stability, and phenolic content of the extracted lignins, as well as the bonding strength and wood failure of the formulated resins. Results showed that the CWS and SC could be considered as an important source for lignin recovery with a considerable yield of 15.46 % and 27.08 % and an important hydroxyl phenolic content of 1.26 mmol/g and 1.36 mmol/g for CWS and SC, respectively. Interestingly, 20 wt% of extracted lignins in PF adhesives were the optimal formulation showing an improved modulus of elasticity (MOE) of about 3505, 3536 and 3515 N/mm 2 , and a higher modulus of rupture (MOR) of about 55, 55 and 56 N/mm 2 for panels containing CWS, SC and SCB-lignins, respectively, over the reference panels (MOE = 3198 N/mm 2 and MOR = 48 N/mm 2 ). Additionally, formaldehyde emission from plywood remarkably decreases by up to 20 % when lignin was incorporated into the PF matrix. Herein, the treatment of the CWS and SC for the extraction of alkali lignin and its application showed a new route to produce high added-value products from underused residues., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Forced chicory roots (FCR) are the main but also the least valued by-products of Belgian endive culture. However, they contain molecules of interest for industry such as caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs). This study aims to investigate accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) as a green technique to recover chlorogenic acid (5-CQA) and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (3,5-diCQA), the main CQAs. A D-optimal design was used to determine the influence of temperature and ethanol percentage on their extraction. Optimal extraction conditions were determined using response surface methodology (RSM) and allow the recovery of 4.95 ± 0.48 mg/g DM of 5-CQA at 107 °C, 46% of ethanol and 5.41 ± 0.79 mg/g DM of 3,5-diCQA at 95 °C, 57% of ethanol. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was also optimized by RSM. The highest antioxidant activity was achieved at 115 °C with 40% ethanol (more than 22mgTrolox/g DM ). Finally, correlation between the antioxidant activity and the amount of CQAs was determined. FCR can be a great source of bioactive compounds with potential use as biobased antioxidant.