An Assessment of Pharmacological Properties of Schinus Essential Oils: A Soft Computing Approach

Plants of genus Schinus are native South America and introduced in Mediterranean countries, a long time ago. Some Schinus species have been used in folk medicine, and Essential Oils of Schinus spp. (EOs) have been reported as having antimicrobial, anti-tumoural and anti-inflammatory properties. Such assets are related with the EOs chemical composition that depends largely on the species, the geographic and climatic region, and on the part of the plants used. Considering the difficulty to infer the pharmacological properties of EOs of Schinus species without a hard experimental setting, this work will focus on the development of an Artificial Intelligence grounded Decision Support System to predict pharmacological properties of Schinus EOs. The computational framework was built on top of a Logic Programming Case Base approach to knowledge representation and reasoning, which caters to the handling of incomplete, unknown, or even self-contradictory information. New clustering methods centered on an analysis of attribute’s similarities were used to distinguish and aggregate historical data according to the context under which it was added to the Case Base, therefore enhancing the prediction process

Natural Sciences in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

A Special Issue of the international journal Sustainability under the section Sustainability of Culture & Heritage has been made, entitled Natural Sciences in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage. The bridge between science/technology and the humanities (archaeology, anthropology, history of art, and cultural heritage) has formed a well-established interdisciplinary subject with several sub-disciplines; it is growing exponentially, spurred by the fast development of technology in other fields (space exploration, medical, military, and industrial applications). On the other hand, art and culture struggle to survive due to neglect, lack of funding, or the dangers of events such as natural disasters and war. This volume strengthens and exerts the documentation of the sustainability of the issue that arises from the outcome of resulting research and the application of such a duality link. The sustainable dimension emerges from society, education, and economics through the impact of cultural growth, all of which produce a balanced society, in which prosperity, harmony, and development are merged at a sustainable local/regional/national/social level. A wide range of subjects linking the applied natural sciences with archaeology and the cultural heritage of innovative research and applications are presented in this volume

Use of Essential Oils and Volatile Compounds as Biological Control Agents

Essential oils (EOs) and microbial/plant-based volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are being used in an increasing number of sectors such as health, cosmetics, the food industry and, more recently, agronomy. In agronomy, they are employed as bio-herbicides and bio-pesticides due to their their insecticidal, antifungal, and bactericidal effects. Several EO-based bio-pesticides are already registered. Essential oils and other VOCs are 100% bio-based and present numerous additional advantages. They contain a great number of structurally diverse compounds that frequently act in synergy; they are thus less subject to resistance. As highly volatile compounds are found in EOs and VOCs, they typically cause no residue problems in food products or in soils. Indeed, the supply of EOs can be really challenging because they are frequently produced in restricted areas of the world with prices and chemical composition fluctuations. Besides, while the high volatility of EOs and VOCs is interesting for some specific applications, it can be a problem when developing a bio-pesticide with long lasting effects. Finally, EOs are frequently phytotoxic, which is perfect for herbicide formulations, but not for other applications. In both cases, the development of a proper formulation is essential. Owing to the current attraction for natural products, a better understanding of their modes of biological action is of importance for the development of new and optimal applications

Valorização de biomassa vegetal através de extração com CO2 supercrítico: do laboratório à exploração

Doutoramento em Engenharia QuímicaA investigação no tema de extração com dióxido carbono supercrítico (SFE) de compostos de valor acrescentado a partir de biomassa vegetal tem sido fortemente impulsionada por duas motivações: a valorização de subprodutos e a biorefinaria. Neste trabalho seis estágios diferentes da investigação neste campo são abordados: a caraterização preliminar de extratos, a otimização experimental, a medição de curvas cinéticas, a modelação das mesmas, estudos de escalabilidade (scale-up), e a análise tecno-económica. Para este efeito, selecionaram-se subprodutos e resíduos agroflorestais promissores, a saber: resíduos de café, folhas e ramos de jacinto de água, cortiça de carvalho turco, sementes de moringa, fruto gac, e casca de eucalipto, com especial ênfase neste último pela sua pertinência no contexto industrial português, nomeadamente para o setor da pasta e papel. O trabalho experimental focou-se em extratos crude e compostos bioativos com potencial para aplicações em cosmética e nutracêutica, tais como os ácidos triterpénicos (ácidos ursólico, oleanólico, betulínico), diterpenos (cafestol, kahweol, 16-O-methylcafestol), esteróis (estigmasterol, etc), friedelina, e licopeno. Casca de eucalipto (Eucalyptus globulus): puro ou modificado com etanol, o SC-CO2 foi capaz de remover ácidos triterpénicos, e a medição e modelação de curvas de extração em condições ótimas (200 bar, 40 ºC e 2.5-5.0 % m/m de etanol) apontaram o rácio entre o caudal e a massa de biomassa como o critério de scale-up apropriado para o processo. Seguindo este critério realizou-se com sucesso um scale-up experimental a três escalas: 0.5, 5.0, and 80 L. Cortiça de carvalho turco (Quercus cerris): extratos crude contendo cerca de 35 % m/m de friedelina foram produzidos com sucesso por SFE e as curvas de extração foram modeladas. A seletividade para a friedelina pode atingir 2.5 através da correta seleção do tamanho de partícula, quantidade de cosolvente (etanol) e tempo de extração. Folhas e ramos de jacinto de água (Eichhornia crassipes): extratos ricos em estigmasterol foram obtidos para tempos de extração curtos (<1 h). As condições ótimas para o rendimento total de extração são 250–300 bar e 5.0 % m/m de etanol, enquanto que para os esteróis são 300 bar e 2.5 % m/m Resíduos de tomate (Solanum lycopersicum): tanto o dióxido de carbono como o etano podem ser usados como solvente supercrítico para produzir um óleo essencial que é rico em licopeno. A viabilidade da SFE foi demonstrada, e apesar de o etano conduzir a maior produtividade, mais investigação é necessária para definir qual dos solventes é preferível na globalidade. Fruta gac (Momordica. cochinchinensis): poderá ser uma promissora e economicamente viável fonte de carotenos, quando extraídos por SFE a 400 bar, 70-90 , durante 0.5-1.0 h. Sementes de moringa (Moringa oleifera): uma análise tecno-económica revelou que um processo integrado bem projetado e combinando SFE com destilação a vácuo permite a produção simultânea de um óleo essencial e de um extratos com uma concentração de esteróis de 89.4 %. Borras de café (Coffea spp.): o óleo produzido por SFE é até 4.1 vezes mais rico em diterpenos do que extratos obtidos com n-hexano, e um processo altamente rentável é esperado a nível comercial. No cômputo geral, esta tese contribui para a sistematização de uma abordagem científica e técnica que promova a valorização industrial de biomassa vegetal através da tecnologia de extração supercrítica.The research on supercritical CO2 extraction (SFE) of added value compounds from vegetal biomass has been strongly driven by by-products valorization and biorefinery motivations. In this work, preliminary characterization of extracts, experimental optimization, measurement of kinetic curves, modeling, scale-up, and techno-economic analysis are covered. For this, several promising agro-forest by-products and residues were selected: spent coffee grounds, water hyacinth stalks and leaves, Turkish oak cork, moringa seed, tomato wastes, gac fruit, and eucalypt bark, with a strong emphasis on the latter due to its pertinence for the Portuguese industrial pulp and paper sector. Experimental work focused on bulk extracts and bioactive compounds with potential cosmetic and nutraceutical applications, such as essential oils, triterpenic acids (ursolic, oleanolic, and betulinic acids), diterpenes (cafestol, kahweol, 16-O-methylcafestol), sterols (e.g., stigmasterol), friedeline, and lycopene. The main results are: Eucalypt (Eucalyptus globulus) bark: whether pure or modified with ethanol, SC-CO2 was able to remove triterpenic acids, and the measurement and modeling of extraction curves under optimum conditions (200 bar, 40 ºC and 2.5-5.0 wt.% of ethanol) pointed the ratio between solvent flow rate and biomass weight as the appropriate scale-up criterion of the process. With this criterion, a successful experimental scale-up was achieved at three scales: 0.5, 5.0, and 80 L. Turkish oak (Quercus cerris) cork: bulk extracts containing ca. 35 wt.% of friedeline were successfully produced by SFE and the extraction curves were modeled. The selectivity to friedeline can reach up to 2.5 through a correct selection of particle size, cosolvent (ethanol) amounts and extraction time. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) leaves and stalks: stigmasterol enriched extracts were obtained for shorter times (<1 h). The optimized conditions for total extraction yield were 250–300 bar and 5.0 wt.% ethanol, while for sterols were 300 bar and 2.5 wt.%. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) wastes: both carbon dioxide and ethane can be used as supercritical solvents to produce an essential oil that is rich in lycopene. The viability of the SFE was demonstrated, but while ethane led to greater productivity, further research is needed to define which one is preferable on a global basis. Gac (Momordica. cochinchinensis) fruit: it may be a promising and economically viable source of carotenes when produced by SFE at 400 bar, 70-90 , during 0.5-1.0 h. Moringa (Moringa oleifera) seeds: a techno-economic analysis unveiled that a well designed integrated process combining SFE and vacuum distillation allows the simultaneous production of an essential oil and a sterols enriched extract with 89.4 % concentration. Spent coffee (Coffea spp.) grounds: the oil produced by SFE is up to 4.1 times richer in diterpenes than n-hexane extracts, and a highly profitable process may be expected at commercial level. In the whole, the presented thesis contributes to the systematization of a scientific and technical approach to foster the industrial valorization of vegetal biomass through SFE technology

Advances and Novel Treatment Options in Metastatic Melanoma

The book presents several studies reporting advances on melanoma pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy. It represents a milestone on the state of the art, updated at 2021, and also presents the current knowledge on the future developments in melanoma field

Use of Essential Oils and Volatile Compounds as Biological Control Agents

peer reviewedMDP

Trends in Ornamental Plant Production

The available range of ornamental plants (cut flowers, potted plants, perennials, bulbous, woody ornamental plants) is constantly being supplemented with new species and cultivars; thus, new methods for their production are required. The sustainable development of the floriculture industry requires modern and environmentally friendly solutions that can maximize the plant’s potential. Therefore, it is necessary to adapt flower production methods to actual conditions and take into account the energy transformation and biological, technical, and organizational advances. This Special Issue is a collection of seven well-written research works covering the current state-of-the-art of ornamental crop production. The main body of the Special Issue gives an interesting coverage of new strategies that can be utilized for plant reproduction, regulating their growth and flowering, adapting production technologies to fit the concept of sustainable development, and optimizing supply chain management. This Special Issue will provide a good reference source for growers, research scientists, and advanced undergraduate students

Synthesis of new pyrazolium based tunable aryl alkyl ionic liquids and their use in removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution

In this study, two new pyrazolium based tunable aryl alkyl ionic liquids, 2-ethyl-1-(4-methylphenyl)-3,5- dimethylpyrazolium tetrafluoroborate (3a) and 1-(4-methylphenyl)-2-pentyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazolium tetrafluoroborate (3b), were synthesized via three-step reaction and characterized. The removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution has been investigated using the synthesized salts as an extractant and methylene chloride as a solvent. The obtained results show that MB was extracted from aqueous solution with high extraction efficiency up to 87 % at room temperature at the natural pH of MB solution. The influence of the alkyl chain length on the properties of the salts and their extraction efficiency of MB was investigated