RESUMO
Pineapple is a highly demanded fruit in international markets due to its unique appearance and flavor, high fiber content, vitamins, folic acid, and minerals. It makes pineapple production and processing a significant source of income for producing countries, such as Costa Rica. This review collects bibliographic information dating back to the beginnings of pineapple production in Costa Rica to the state of the market today. It details the impacts of its production chain and proposes a biorefinery as a solution to environmental problems. Besides the potentiality of new sustainable markets to contribute to the post-COVID-19 economy in Costa Rica is highlighted. The general characteristics of pineapple by-products -cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and other high-value products like bromelain y saponin- are described, as well as the primary processes for their ex-traction via biorefinery and main applications in the medical field. Finally, a brief description of the main works in the literature involving modeling and simulation studies of pineapple by-products properties is included.
RESUMO
Silica in plant tissues has been suggested as a component for enhancing mechanical properties, and as a physical barrier. Pineapples present in their shell and bracts rosette-like microparticles that could be associated to biogenic silica. In this study, we show for the first time that silica-based microparticles are co-purified during the extraction process of nanocellulose from pineapple (Ananas comosus). This shows that vegetable biomass could be an underappreciated source, not only for nanocellulose, but also for a highly valuable sub-product, like 10 µm biogenic rosette-like silica-based microparticles. The recovery yield obtained was 7.2 wt.%; based on the dried initial solid. Due to their size and morphology, the microparticles have potential applications as reinforcement in adhesives, polymer composites, in the biomedical field, and even as a source of silica for fertilizers.
