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Supercritical fluid extraction, employing CO2 as solvent, was explored to recover high-value lipophilic compounds from apple by-product, the main solid residue generated after apple fruit processing. The experimental conditions were fixed at pressures of 300, 425, and 550 MPa and temperatures of 37, 46, and 55 °C. The total yield from the extractions was calculated and the antioxidant capacity of the different extracts was measured by ORAC and HORAC analytical methods. Furthermore, HPLC-DAD-MS/MS and GLC analyses were performed, respectively, for triterpenic compounds and fatty acid identification. The extracts were tested over human keratinocyte cell (HaCaT) to evaluate their in vitro impact. Supercritical fluid extracts obtained at 46 °C exhibited the greater operational yield and the highest concentration of triterpenic acids, namely, betulinic acid, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, uvaol/erythrodiol, and lupeol. These results support that apple by-product is a natural source of bioactive compounds with potential cosmeceutical applications.

The "escape rooms" are team games to "escape" from a room or a virtual room. This room is full of challenges that must be passed to win (escape) within a given time limit [1].Due to the traditional teaching is causing problems around motivation and commitment and it is perceived as ineffective and boring by many students, the use of educational games is very promising because they are a teaching tool to enhance the non-cognitive skills such as problem solving, collaboration and communication. The games have a remarkable motivating power due to the use of a series of mechanisms that encourage people to participate in them, often without any reward, just for the satisfaction of playing and competing, and the possibility of winning [2].In the academic course 2019-2020, we have developed activities based on “escape room” in different subjects: “Science and Analysis of water and beverages” of the Degree in Food Science and Technology, "Analytical Chemistry I" and "Pharmaceutical Physico-Chemistry” of the Pharmacy Degree and “Chemistry” of the Degree in Optics and Optometry at Complutense University, Madrid.For the development of the project, all the characteristics and the progress of the different phases of the escape room seminar were informed in the first day of class and through the Virtual Campus platform. Students grouped themselves (5-7 people/group) and appointed a spokesperson that was responsible to reply the puzzles of the activity. At the end of this action, the students voluntarily responded to Likert surveys to assess their implication and their perception about their learning, teamwork, and whether if they enjoyed with the proposed activity. They replied with a high score (4/5) to questions such as "It was useful to improve the subject understanding” and "It was useful to establish basic concepts". Furthermore, they assigned the highest score (5/5) when replied about “It was a good option as a class activity" and "I liked participate in the activity". Thus, the “escape room” activity resulted in an effective tool for the student motivation and improved their commitment to the subject.

This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Food Ingredients for Safe and Health-Promoting Functional Foods., A novel and green procedure consisting of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) aided by a commercial cellulase (Celluclast®) has been applied to valorise the apple by-product, a valuable source of dietary fibre but mainly composed by insoluble fibre. Optimal conditions for solubilisation of dietary fibre were first determined at atmospheric pressure as 2% (w/v) of substrate concentration and 20 Endo-Glucanase Units of cellulase. Monitoring of polysaccharides and oligosaccharides released from apple by-product was carried out by means of a newly validated HPLC method with refractive index detector. A synergistic effect was observed when the combined HHP plus cellulase treatment was used. Thus, the application of 200 MPa at 50 °C for 15 min enabled a significant increase in the release of water-soluble polysaccharides (1.8-fold) and oligosaccharides (3.8-fold), as well as a considerable decrease in the time required (up to 120-fold), compared to control at 0.1 MPa. Therefore, this technology could be a promising alternative approach to transform an industrial by-product into a novel rich-in-oligosaccharide food ingredient and a step forward into shaping the world of prebiotics., This research was funded by the Spanish AEI (FEDER, UE) grant number AGL2016-77056-R.

Apple by-product is an agro-food by-product mainly wasted or underutilized, which is increasing because of the demands of consumers of apple juice or cider. This fruit residue is very rich in dietary fibre, and although the major component is the insoluble dietary fraction (IDF), pectins from soluble DF (SDF) comprised mainly by homogalacturonan and rhamnogalacturonan type I branched with arabinans, galactans and arabinogalactans are remarkable. These polysaccharides are used by Bifidobacterium bifidus in vitro, producing an important amount of short chain fatty acids (SCFA), mainly acetate, as in the case of the in vivo assay with high fat diet-fed Wistar rats. Butyrate was increased 3-fold in this in vivo assay indicating that butyrate bacteria producers can use apple by-product. Thus, it showed a potential bifidogenic and butyrogenic effect that is pursued in the search of new prebiotics. Furthermore, apple by-product enriched diet increased (p < 0.05) HDL and diminished (p < 0.05) trygliceridemia and hepatic total lipids presumably because of the bile acids binding effect observed, highlighting the potential hypolipidemic effect., This work was supported by Project AGL 2016-77056R from the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (FEDER,UE).

The apple by-product is the remaining solid obtained after fruit processing, mainly constituted by insoluble dietary fiber. However, soluble dietary fiber would be more desirable due to its positive health effects. The simultaneous application of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), namely at 200, 400, and 600 MPa, for 15 and 30 min holding time, and the commercial enzyme Celluclast® (92 EGU) allowed a high molecular weight carbohydrates solubilisation achieving therefore, a safe soluble dietary fiber-rich product. HHP facilitated the cell wall accessibility, as it was observed by scanning electron microscopy which revealed a considerable cell wall disruption; whereas, the food-grade enzyme activity led to a decrease of the soluble polysaccharides molecular weight (MW), mainly in the major MW polysaccharide, i.e. HHP-sample: 6.13*104 kDa; HHP + enzyme-sample: 4.26*104 kDa. The solubilisation is at the cost of the augmentation (p < 0.05) of mainly, glucose, uronic acids and arabinose. The soluble dietary fiber-rich product present greater water retention capacity, oil holding capacity, and emulsion activity, which increased more than eight times as compared to the control. These results support an enhancement of apple by-product technological and nutritional qualities, hence it could be utilised as a safe and effective functional ingredient., This work has been carried out thanks to project “APHENZ” (AGL2016-77056-R) of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (co-financed by AEI, FEDER EU fund). The technical help of D. Gómez (SEM) and R. Dominguez (HHP) is acknowledged. Rocío Teresa Jiménez de la Peña Armada is grateful to Rafael Folch Foundation for her PhD grant (2020/E02).