Phenolic and Antioxidant Characterization of Fruit By-Products for Their Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements Valorization under a Circular Bio-Economy Approach.

Agri-food by-products, obtained as waste from the food industry, negatively impact the global economy and the environment. In order to valorize waste materials from fruit juices and tomato sauces as upcycled materials rich in health-promoting compounds, they were characterized in terms of polyphenolic and protein content. The results obtained were compared with those collected for their final products. The recovery of polyphenols was performed via ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). A high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) method was developed and validated to depict the quali-quantitative polyphenolic profile of both the by-products and the final products. The antioxidant capacity of the resulting extracts was characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometric assays in terms of total phenolic content (TPC) and total antioxidant status (TAS). Moreover, the protein content was assessed with the Kjeldahl method too. The results highlighted a significant quantity of polyphenols remaining in peach, apricot, and apple by-products, which were able to exert an antioxidant activity (in the range of 4.95 ± 5.69 × 10-1 to 7.06 ± 7.96 × 10-1 mmol Trolox 100 g-1 of dry weight (DW) sample). Conversely, the tomato by-products were highly rich in proteins (11.0 ± 2.00 to 14.4 ± 2.60 g of proteins 100 g-1 DW). The results proved that all by-products may potentially be sustainable ingredients with nutritional and functional value in a circular bio-economy prospect.

Integrated analytical approaches for the characterization of Spirulina and Chlorella microalgae.

Microalgae are well-known for their content of bioactive molecules such as pigments, proteins, fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins and antioxidants, all of which are of great interest in the preparation of a wide range of products such as food, cosmetics and nutraceuticals. The purpose of this project was the analytical characterization of commercial dry microalgal biomass: four samples of Chlorella and five of Spirulina were analysed in order to highlight their content in terms of micro/macro nutrients. The research was oriented towards the development and validation of accurate, fast and reproducible methods for the nutritional assessment of algal biomasses, aiming to provide a guiding methodology. The lipid profiles of algal matrixes were analysed for the content of saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The process was divided into two phases: firstly, the extraction and determination of the total lipids and pigment content; secondly, the trans-esterification of the extracted lipid-pigment portion in order to analyse fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) with a GC-MS method. A fingerprinting of MUFAs and PUFAs was obtained regarding microalgae species. The determination of total carotenoids and chlorophylls content in the lipid extracts was evaluated through a fast UV-Vis spectrophotometric analysis, which was validated by a new HPLC-DAD analysis. Furthermore, the total antioxidant activity of each lipid extract was determined along with the determination of the microalgae protein content. Then, with the aid of the principal component analysis (PCA) plots, the two microalgae were clustered in terms of their micro/macro nutrients, for differentiating their properties. Spirulina, resulting to have a greater antioxidant activity, supposedly due to a higher content in pigments and higher protein concentration, could be suggested for an appropriate diet for sporting people. Chlorella, instead, showed a more balanced profile of PUFAs and MUFAs and its use could be suggested for cosmetics and vegan diets. This paper puts forward an overall analytical approach, sustained by a multivariate analysis, for emphasising content differences and activity of two different microalgae strains, in order to underline specific claims for each class, addressed to defined final users.

Fentanyl pharmacokinetics in blood of cancer patients by Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry.

In order to find a correlation between Fentanyl action on pain and inter-individual variability in different cancer patients, the pharmacokinetic characterization of the drug becomes essential. Therefore, a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) in SIM mode analytical procedure has been developed and validated for the determination of Fentanyl in human blood. The sample preparation consisted of a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) from whole blood. The analysis were carried out with Agilent 7820 A series gas chromatograph equipped with a 5977E series mass selective single quadrupole detector (MSD) with an electron impact (EI) source (70 eV), under a temperature gradient elution. The limit of detection (LoD) and the limit of quantification (LoQ) values were found to be 5.60E-02 ± 3.50E-02 ng mL-1 and 1.86E-01 ± 1.18E-01 ng mL-1 respectively. The developed method was found selective and sensitive and therefore suitable for a fast determination of Fentanyl in human blood and for its pharmacokinetic characterization. Blood samples from 31 cancer patients treated with transdermal Fentanyl (doses in the range of 12-100 µg h-1) were collected at fixed intervals during an overall exposure time of 72 h. The analysis of data and the pharmacokinetic parameters revealed dissimilar pharmacokinetic profiles in the patients examined. Patients were therefore grouped in three categories representing the different trends observed: high, medium and slow responders. These preliminary data provided significant outcomes for a correlation to clinical response.

Natural products as novel scaffolds for the design of glycogen synthase kinase 3ß inhibitors.

INTRODUCTION: The different and relevant roles of GSK-3 are of critical importance since they deal with development, metabolic homeostasis, cell polarity and fate, neuronal growth and differentiation as well as modulation of apoptotic potential. Given their involvement with different diseases, many investigations have been undertaken with the aim of discovering new and promising inhibitors for this target. In this context, atural products represent an invaluable source of active molecules. AREAS COVERED: In order to overcome issues such as poor pharmacokinetic properties or efficacy, frequently associated with natural compounds, different GSK-3ß inhibitors belonging to alkaloid or flavonoid classes have been subjected to structural modifications in order to obtain more potent and safer compounds. Herein, the authors report the results obtained from studies where natural compounds have been used as hits with the aim of providing new kinase inhibitors endowed with a better inhibitory profile. EXPERT OPINION: Structurally modification of natural scaffolds is a proven approach taking advantage of their pharmacological characteristics. Indeed, whatever the strategy adopted is and, despite the limitations associated with the structural complexity of natural products, the authors recommend the use of natural scaffolds as a promising strategy for the discovery of novel and potent GSK-3ß inhibitors.