Juçara Fruit (Euterpe Edulis Martius) Valorization Combining Emergent Extraction Technologies and Aqueous Solutions of Alkanediols.

Anthocyanins from juçara fruits were extracted by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) or ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), using aqueous solutions of 1,2-alkanediols and glycerol ethers as biobased solvents. The PLE (100 bar, 13 min, 1 mL/min flow rate) in the optimal extraction conditions originated 23.1 mganthocyanins·gdry biomass-1. On the other hand, the UAE was 10 min long, and the optimal conditions using 1,2-propanediol were 42.6 wt%, 160 W, and pH 7.0, leading to 50 mganthocyanins·gdry biomass-1. Extractions at the UAE optimized conditions, with aqueous solutions of five different 1,2-alkanediols and three glycerol ethers were performed, and compared to water and ethanolic extracts. The biobased solvent solutions presented anthocyanin yields up to 33% higher than water, and were shown to be as efficient as ethanol/water, but generated extracts with higher antioxidant capacity. The anthocyanin-rich extract of juçara, obtained with 1,2-propanediol, was used in the production of a natural soap and incorporated into a cream, showing that the addition of the juçara extract resulted in an antioxidant capacity in both products.

Non-conventional techniques for the extraction of antioxidant compounds and lycopene from industrial tomato pomace (Solanum lycopersicum L.) using spouted bed drying as a pre-treatment.

This study aimed to use the non-conventional microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) techniques for recovering bioactive compounds from tomato pomace, a valuable agro-industrial waste. The raw material was previously dried using a spouted bed dryer and then submitted to extraction with green solvents. A response surface methodology (RSM) performed the optimization of MAE and PLE. Next, the yield and the antioxidant activity results were maximized, and the lycopene content of the optimum MAE and PLE extracts was assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Additionally, a fraction of raw material was oven dried as a comparison. The PLE extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity, whereas the MAE extract showed the highest lycopene content (59.66 µg lycopene/g extract), which represents a 66.93% lycopene recovery compared to a standard technique with acetone. The remarkable results show that the non-conventional drying and extraction techniques were effective in valorizing this neglected material.