Chemical Profile of the Pits Oil from the Tunisian 'Alig' Cultivar of Phoenix dactylifera L.: In Vivo Wound Healing Potential Evaluation of a Cream Formulated from the Extracted Oil and Insights from Molecular Docking and SAR Analysis.

Since ancient times the oil from date palm pits (Phoenix dactylifera L.) has been used to heal wounds. In order to prove this traditional usage of the pits, this oil was extracted from the pits of the Tunisian cultivar 'Alig' and its physico-chemical properties and the chemical composition were evaluated. The fatty acid profile, evidenced by GC, allowed to classify this oil as an oleic-myristic acid oil with a clear abundance of oleic acid (53.66 %). 1 H and 13 C-NMR as well as FT-IR analyses confirmed the presence of fatty acids in triglyceride forms. Furthermore, in vivo wound healing activity of a cream formulated from the extracted oil was performed, for the first time, using a rat model and was compared to placebo cream and a commercial formulation, MEBO®. This study showed that the test cream promoted the healing of pressure ulcers better than the placebo cream and the MEBO® ointment. The results showed that this vegetable oil is able to improve the healing of infected wounds in rats, thus supporting its traditional use. The contribution of the main oleic, linoleic and myristic acids that can be derived from enzymatic hydrolysis to the healing activity of the whole pits oil was predicted by in silico study and the calculated pharmacokinetics parameters.

Cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) from Ammophila arenaria, a natural and a fast growing grass plant.

The production of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) with a high yield from Ammophila arenariahas been explored and the ensuing CNFs were characterized in terms of morphology, crystallinity and rheological properties. Ammophila arenaria (marram grass) is a perennial grass plant with high tolerance to drought, which is growing naturally in nutritionally poor sand with low organic matter. Fibers were extracted from the plant by conventional alkaline pulping and bleaching with a yield around 50% based on the dry weight of the plant. A TEMPO-mediated oxidation and a cationization with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride were performed as a pretreament to facilitate the fibrillation process and produced stable CNF suspension with high yield and controlled surface charge. High pressure homogenization was used for the mechanical disintegration of the pretreated fibers and nanosized CNFs with width around 5-8nm were produced with a yield exceeding 80%.