Συγκριτική μελέτη περιβαλλοντικού αποτυπώματος των συσκευασιών χυμού τερεφθαλικού πολυαιθυλενίου (ΡΕΤ) και πολλαπλών στρωμάτων Tetra Pak

Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο--Μεταπτυχιακή Εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό-Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) “Τεχνο-Οικονομικά Συστήματα (ΜΒΑ)

Sustainable Valorisation of Peach and Apricot Waste Using Green Extraction Technique with Conventional and Deep Eutectic Solvents

Worldwide, fruit processing industries reject high volumes of fruit waste, which represent rich sources of phenolic compounds and can be valorised through extraction, and then be reused for food, nutraceutical or cosmetic applications. In the present work, the optimisation of the recovery of phenolic compounds from apricot kernels and pulp, as well as peach pulp, through the green method of ultrasound and microwave assisted extraction (UMAE) is performed. Prior to extraction, a drying step of the pulps is conducted using freeze, vacuum and hot air drying. Except for the conventional extraction solvents of water and ethanol:water, a deep eutectic solvent (DES) formed by choline chloride/urea, and a natural deep eutectic solvent (NaDES) from choline chloride with lactic acid, are used, something that presentsecological benefits. With the aim of discovering the optimum extraction conditions, different values of the parameters of extraction time, utrasonic power and solvent/dry solid ratio are examined, and a mathematical model is developed to correlate them to the extraction yield (EY). The phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity are determined through UV-Vis spectroscopy and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results of the study demonstrated that the most effective solvent in the extraction of apricot kernels is ethanol: water; DES is more efficient in the extraction of apricot pulp and NaDES in the extraction of peach pulps, reaching EYs of 25.65, 26.83 and 17.13%, respectively. In conclusion, both types of fruit waste are proved to have a significant content of valuable compounds, and the use of DES in fruit by-product extraction is effective and seems to be a promising alternative. Thus, the unexploited amounts of waste can be valorised through simple techniques and innovative solvents

Towards a Circular Bioeconomy. VOLATILE FATTY ACID PLATFORM FOR BIOWASTE RECYCLING

Resources in general are not infinitely available, and also renewable resources if consumed outside their normal replacement cycles become scarce. Therefore, the establishment of a circular bioeconomy must respect natural systems and replacement cycles of organic carbon thereby reducing environmental pressure of human consumption. Upcycling of side and biowaste streams towards added value compounds represents hereby a critical aspect reducing land system change and fertilizer use for biomass supply for the bioeconomy. The development of a Volatile Fatty Acids Platform (VFAP) represents an important cornerstone for the upcycling of heterogenous municipal biowaste streams.This e-book was prepared in the context of the EU funded project VOLATILE in accordance with the grant agreement No 720777 (European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme)