Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Four Medicinal Mediterranean Plants: Investigation of Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity.

With everyday advances in the field of pharmaceuticals, medicinal plants have high priority regarding the introduction of novel synthetic compounds by the usage of environmentally friendly extraction technologies. Herein, a supercritical CO2 extraction method was implemented in the analysis of four plants (chamomile, St. John's wort, yarrow, and curry plant) after which the non-targeted analysis of the chemical composition, phenolic content, and antioxidant activity was evaluated. The extraction yield was the highest for the chamomile (5%), while moderate yields were obtained for the other three plants. The chemical composition analyzed by gas chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) and liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) demonstrated extraction of diverse compounds including terpenes and terpenoids, fatty acids, flavonoids and coumarins, functionalized phytosterols, and polyphenols. Voltammetry of microfilm immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode using square-wave voltammetry (SWV) was applied in the analysis of extracts. It was found that antioxidant activity obtained by SWV correlates well to 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhidrazine (DPPH) radical assay (R2 = 0.818) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay (R2 = 0.640), but not to the total phenolic content (R2 = 0.092). Effective results were obtained in terms of activity showing the potential usage of supercritical CO2 extraction to acquire bioactive compounds of interest.

Populus seed fibers as a natural source for production of oil super absorbents.

The genus Populus, which includes poplars, cottonwoods and aspen trees, represents a huge natural source of fibers with exceptional physical properties. In this study, the oil absorption properties of poplar seed hair fibers obtained from Populus nigra italica when tested with high-density motor oil and diesel fuel are reported. Poplar seed hair fibers are hollow hydrophobic microtubes with an external diameter between 3 and 12 µm, an average length of 4±1 mm and average tube wall thickness of 400±100 nm. The solid skeleton of the hollow fibers consists of lignocellulosic material coated by a hydrophobic waxy coating. The exceptional chemical, physical and microstructural properties of poplar seed hair fibers enable super-absorbent behavior with high absorption capacity for heavy motor oil and diesel fuel. The absorption values of 182-211 g heavy oil/g fiber and 55-60 g heavy oil/g fiber for packing densities of 0.005 g/cm(3) and 0.02 g/cm(3), respectively, surpass all known natural absorbents. Thus, poplar seed hair fibers obtained from Populus nigra italica and other trees of the genus Populus are an extremely promising natural source for the production of oil super absorbents.

Chemical properties and biodegradability of waste paper mill sludges to be used for landfill covering.

Waste paper mill sludges originating from different effluent treatment and de-inking installations are complex mixtures of inorganic and organic particles. Due to their favourable physico-chemical, and microbiological characteristics, they may be conveniently reused for different purposes as such or after appropriate pretreatment. Sludges from the Slovenian paper industry were extensively tested for their chemical, stability and sealing properties. During the biodegradability tests, evolutions of greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and H2S as well as the concentrations of released volatile organic acids, such as acetic, propionic, butyric, lactic and glycollic acids as the typical degradation products of organic materials, were measured. Some other important parameters of water leachates such as pH, redox potential, content of starch and leachable ions were also evaluated. The results indicate that most of them can be efficiently applied as alternative hydraulic barrier layers for landfill construction and covering instead of the more expensive clay due to their good geomechanical properties, chemical inertness and microbiological stability. Such replacement brings about considerable economical and ecological benefits as the waste is reprocessed as secondary raw material.