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Moringa oleifera L. tree (Mo) has emerged as a rich alternative source of bioactive compounds to design cosmetic formulations. Supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction (SFE-CO2) was successfully applied on the screening of Mo seed, leaf, and root extracts. The extraction yield was evaluated by response surface methodology (RSM), for pressure and temperature ranges of 117–273 bar and 41–60 °C, respectively, using a design of experiments (DOE). The pressure significantly affected the results ( α = 0.05 ), with the highest extraction efficiency obtained at conditions above 195 bar. The extracts' composition, evaluated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS), revealed an increasing correlation between the pressure, total extract solubility, and mass of extract at a constant temperature, due to the higher extraction yield. Seed extracts presented more than 80% of oleic acid in relative composition (8.04 mgcompound∙gplantpart−1). Leaf extracts performed well for the obtainment of linolenic acid (>20%; 3.10 mg∙g−1), nonacosane (>22%; 0.46 mg∙g−1), and α-tocopherol (>20%; 0.21 mg∙g−1). Mo root resulted in higher relative composition for sterol molecules, despite its very low affinity with CO2. The most promising bioactive compounds, oleic acid and α-tocopherol, were more abundant when operating at 250 bar at 45 °C and 195 bar at 55 °C, for Mo seed and leaf SFE-CO2 extracts, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans often respond to sensory impulses provided by aromas, and current trends have generated interest in natural sources of fragrances rather than the commonly used synthetic additives. For the first time, the resulting aroma of a selected culture of Thymus mastichina L. was studied as a potential food ingredient. In this context, dried (DR) and fresh (FR) samples were submitted to carbon dioxide (CO2) supercritical extraction (SFE) and hydrodistillation (HD) methods. The extracts were characterised according to their volatile composition by GC-MS, cytotoxicity against a non-tumour cell culture, and sensory attributes (odour threshold and olfactive descriptors). The most abundant aromas were quantified, and the analysis performed by GC-MS revealed an abundance of terpenoids such as thymol chemotype, followed by the precursors α-terpinene and p-cymene. DR and FR extracts (EX) obtained from SFE-CO2 show the highest content of thymol, achieving 52.7% and 72.5% of the isolated volatile fraction. The DR essential oil (EO) contained the highest amount of terpenoids, but it was also the most cytotoxic extract. In contrast, SFE-CO2 products showed the lowest cytotoxic potential. Regarding FR-OE, it had the lowest extraction yield and composition in aroma volatiles. Additionally, all samples were described as having green, fresh and floral sensory notes, with no significant statistical differences regarding the odour detection threshold (ODT) values. Finally, FR-EX of T. mastichina obtained by SFE-CO2 presented the most promising results regarding food application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuts have been part of the human diet since our early ancestors, and their use goes beyond nutritional purposes, for example, as aromatic sources for dairy products. This work explores the potential of almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) DA Webb), hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.), and walnut (Juglans regia L.) extracts as sources of food flavouring agents, suggesting a new added-value application for lower quality or excess production fruits. The extracts were obtained by supercritical fluid extraction with carbon dioxide and characterized by: quantification of the volatile fraction by HS-SPME GC-MS; sensory perception and description; and cytotoxicity against Vero cells. All extracts revealed potential as flavouring ingredients due to terpene abundance. No significant differences were observed for the minimal sensory perception, in which the odour threshold values ranged from 8.3 × 10 -4 to 6.9 × 10 -3 μg·mL -1 for walnuts and almonds extracts, respectively. In contrast, the cytotoxic potential differed significantly among the extracts, and P. dulcis extract presented lower cytotoxicity. Notes as woody, fresh, and green were identified in the volatile intensifiers obtained from the P. dulcis extract. Thus, almond extract was identified as the most promising ingredient to increase the sensory value of food products, namely bread. This potential was verified by an increase in the odour perception of bread after adding 4 μL of extract to each 100 g of bread dough. The quantified eucalyptol and d-limonene terpenes - found in the P. dulcis extract - have improved the release of the pleasant and natural volatile compounds from bread crust and crumb compared to the control bread chemical and sensory profiles., 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 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)