Ionic liquids vs. ethanol as extraction media of algicidal compounds from mango processing waste.

The race for environmentally-safe pesticides and biocides has been showing solutions ranging from pest-pathologic microorganisms to safer botanical extracts that can be incorporated in several formulations. Often linked to high biological activities, fruit residues can be recovered from food processing factories to obtain complex extracts enriched with several bioactive chemicals. Mango (Mangifera indica) fruits are processed into food products in high volumes across the globe and generate a consistent residue that contains, among others, the xanthonoid mangiferin and the flavonoid hyperoside. Both compounds have been linked to several pharmacological and pesticidal activities, although not yet studied for algicidal applications, a current concern specially for antifouling and harmful algae blooms control products. The challenge lies, however, not only on the degree of activity of the natural compounds, but also on the processes necessary to separate, isolate and formulate the bioactive compounds in order to obtain an effective final product. The solvent choice plays an important part regarding the selectivity of the separation and isolation of the main bioactive compounds from the solid waste matrix. Ethanolic mixtures in water have been consolidated recently as a promising extraction medium for flavonoids and xanthonoids, although hindered by solubility limitations. In this paper, aqueous solutions of ionic liquids (ILs) were tested, screened and optimized using Box-Behnken design and Response Surface Methodology to obtain mangiferin and hyperoside-enriched extracts. Results showed a greater concentration of mangiferin and hyperoside with 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C8MIm] Cl), when compared to choline acetate and ethanolic extracts using optimized parameters. In terms of sufficiency, solvent selection between ILs and ethanolic extraction media was discussed considering economic and environmental factors. Ethanol/water mango waste extracts were then studied for their activity against Raphidocelis subcapitata microalgae, which showed a higher growth inhibition in comparison to standard solutions of mangiferin and hyperoside, either individually and in a 1:1 mixture. A EC50 value was found in relative low concentrations of mangiferin and hyperoside (0.015 mg L-1) detected in the extract, showcasing a promising approach to the direct use of residuary plant extracts in biocidal formulations.

Repurposing chemical waste: Sustainable chemistry for circularity beyond artificial intelligence.

Generating considerable amounts of industrial waste requires rethinking chemistry for circularity in a broader picture. We discuss the study by Wolos et al. (2022) showing that the critical application of artificial intelligence on chemical reactivity can help us trace an unprecedented number of syntheses to novel responsible uses of waste.

Flavonoids as biopesticides - Systematic assessment of sources, structures, activities and environmental fate.

Biopesticides obtained from renewable resources and associated with biodegradability have the potential to address resource limitations and environmental pollution, often caused by many conventional pesticides, due to the facility of natural products to run in natural nutrient cycles. Flavonoids are considered benign substitutes for pesticides, however, little comprehensive information of their pesticidal activities and critical evaluation of their associated advantages is available. Therefore, this systematic review assessed sources, structures, activities and the environmental fate of flavonoids on a basis of 201 selected publications. We identified 281 different flavonoids that were investigated for their pesticidal activity as either a pure compound or a flavonoid-containing extract, with quercetin, kaempferol, apigenin, luteolin and their glycosides as the most studied compounds. Agricultural or food waste, a potential sustainable source for flavonoids, represent 10.6% of the plant sources of flavonoids within these studies, showing the currently underutilization of these preferable feedstocks. Analysis of pesticidal activities and target organisms revealed a broad target spectrum for the class of flavonoids, including fungi, insects, plants, bacteria, algae, nematodes, molluscs and barnacles. Little information is available on the environmental fate and biodegradation of flavonoids, and a connection to studies investigating pesticidal activities is largely missing. Emerging from these findings is the need for comprehensive understanding of flavonoids pesticidal activities with emphasis on structural features that influence activity and target specificity to avoid risks for non-target organisms. Only if the target spectrum and environmental fate of a potential biopesticide are known it can serve as a benign substitute. Then, flavonoids can be integrated in a valorization process of agricultural and food waste shifting the extract-produce-consume linear chain to a more circular economy.

Chemistry and materials science for a sustainable circular polymeric economy.

Chemistry plays a determining role in every stage of the plastic life cycle. We reflect on the challenges and limitations of plastics - their sheer abundance, chemodiversity and imperfect recoverability leading to loss of material - and on the need for chemical and non-chemical approaches to overcome them.

Introduction to celebrating Latin American talent in chemistry.

In celebration of the excellence and breadth of Latin American research achievements across the chemical sciences, we are delighted to present an introduction to the themed collection, Celebrating Latin American talent in chemistry.

Green and Sustainable Separation of Natural Products from Agro-Industrial Waste: Challenges, Potentialities, and Perspectives on Emerging Approaches.

New generations of biorefinery combine innovative biomass waste resources from different origins, chemical extraction and/or synthesis of biomaterials, biofuels, and bioenergy via green and sustainable processes. From the very beginning, identifying and evaluating all potentially high value-added chemicals that could be removed from available renewable feedstocks requires robust, efficient, selective, reproducible, and benign analytical approaches. With this in mind, green and sustainable separation of natural products from agro-industrial waste is clearly attractive considering both socio-environmental and economic aspects. In this paper, the concepts of green and sustainable separation of natural products will be discussed, highlighting the main studies conducted on this topic over the last 10 years. The principal analytical techniques (such as solvent, microwave, ultrasound, and supercritical treatments), by-products (e.g., citrus, coffee, corn, and sugarcane waste) and target compounds (polyphenols, proteins, essential oils, etc.) will be presented, including the emerging green and sustainable separation approaches towards bioeconomy and circular economy contexts.

Polysaccharide-derived mesoporous materials (Starbon®) for sustainable separation of complex mixtures.

The recovery and separation of high value and low volume extractives are a considerable challenge for the commercial realisation of zero-waste biorefineries. Using solid-phase extractions (SPE) based on sustainable sorbents is a promising method to enable efficient, green and selective separation of these complex extractive mixtures. Mesoporous carbonaceous solids derived from renewable polysaccharides are ideal stationary phases due to their tuneable functionality and surface structure. In this study, the structure-separation relationships of thirteen polysaccharide-derived mesoporous materials and two modified types as sorbents for ten naturally-occurring bioactive phenolic compounds were investigated. For the first time, a comprehensive statistical analysis of the key molecular and surface properties influencing the recovery of these species was carried out. The obtained results show the possibility of developing tailored materials for purification, separation or extraction, depending on the molecular composition of the analyte. The wide versatility and application span of these polysaccharide-derived mesoporous materials offer new sustainable and inexpensive alternatives to traditional silica-based stationary phases.

Maracujá: um alimento funcional? / Passion fruit: a functional food?

Este artigo é uma revisão bibliográfica sobre as espécies brasileiras de Passiflora (Passiflora edulis fo. flavicarpa O. Deg., P. alata Curtis e P. edulis fo. edulis). A maioria dos artigos da literatura focaliza somente as folhas de Passiflora, enquanto que esta revisão contém informações sobre a polpa, cascas e sementes dos frutos do maracujá, com destaque para a composição química, estudos nutricionais e farmacológicos. O enfoque nos frutos do maracujá fundamenta-se no amplo consumo do suco de maracujá (fresco ou industrializado) no Brasil e também nas investigações em andamento para avaliar o seu potencial uso como alimento funcional.

This paper consists of a bibliographic review of the most relevant edible Brazilian Passiflora species (Passiflora edulis fo. flavicarpa O. Deg., P. alata Curtis and P. edulis fo. edulis). Most of the reports in the literature focus solely on Passiflora leaves, whereas this review contains information about passion fruit pulp, rind and seeds, highlightening chemical composition, nutritional and pharmacological studies. The emphasis on the "maracujá" fruit is due to the extensive consumption of passion fruit juice (fresh or processed) in Brazil and on ongoing investigations into its potential as a functional food.

SBSE-GC-ECD/FPD in the analysis of pesticide residues in Passiflora alata Dryander herbal teas.

Stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) in combination with GC-ECD/FPD analysis is here applied to the determination of the residues of 11 pesticides (hexachlorobenzene, lindane, chlorothalonil, parathion methyl, parathion ethyl, fenitrothion, malathion, dieldrin, alpha- and beta-endosulfan, and tetradifon) in herbal teas prepared with Passiflora alata Dryander spiked leaves. The method was optimized using spiked herbal teas in a range from 0.05 to 1 pg/microL for organochlorine pesticides and from 0.15 to 3 pg/microL for organophosphorus pesticides. The method is reproducible and repeatable with recoveries calculated from herbal teas prepared with spiked plant material versus spiked herbal teas, varying from about 30% for tetradifon to about 90% for parathion methyl and malathion. The limits of quantitation (LOQs) ranged from 0.017 pg/microL for lindane to 0.117 pg/microL for malathion.