Valorization of Euterpe oleracea Mart. (açaí) by-product: characterization, extraction and formulation.

Açaí es el nombre popular de Euterpe oleracea Mart. La fruta es originaria de la selva amazónica, y el interés de la industria se centra en su pulpa. Esta pulpa obtenida de açaí se comercializa como pulpa congelada, pura o mezclada con otros extractos de frutas. El açaí rara vez se consume como fruta fresca, lo que requiere un proceso industrial donde la pulpa se extrae, se filtra y se congela antes de su comercialización. La pulpa es alrededor del 16% de la fruta entera, por lo que su procesado genera una gran cantidad de residuos que se compone de semillas, fibras y piel, lo que implica un gran problema ambiental. La pulpa muchas veces se convierte en parte del residuo pues es susceptible a muchas enfermedades, tales como la enfermedad de chagas. La pulpa se ha utilizado como tratamiento y prevención de algunas enfermedades, como la demencia, el Alzheimer, el Parkinson, la aterosclerosis, la obesidad y la gastritis, porque el extracto de açaí contiene agentes antioxidantes y antiinflamatorios. Los beneficios del extracto de E. Oleracea están asociados con la presencia de polifenoles, metabolitos secundarios de las plantas, especialmente relacionados con los flavonoides (un tipo de polifenoles), que incluyen voluteína, luteolina, apigenina y orientina, presentes en el extracto. Esta tesis tiene por objetivo estudiar la valorización de los productos no comestibles de Euterpe Oleracea Mart producidos como subproductos del procesamiento industrial de esta fruta. Este estudio se concretó en los siguientes objetivos específicos: (I) caracterizar los subproductos obtenidos en el procesado de E. Oleracea, (pulpa - no útil para el consumo, semillas y torta-del-filtrado) como biomasa y fuente de gran potencial de fitoquímicos; (II) Estudiar la extracción de compuestos bioactivos por el método tradicional Soxhlet, la maceración, la intensificación del proceso aplicando calentamiento por microondas, y el calentamiento por microondas combinado con presurización; (III) formular el material obtenido en la extracción de cada fracción del subproducto de E. Oleracea (torta-del-filtrado, semilla y pulpa) para su aplicación en productos como cremas y colorantes alimentarios naturales.Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Tecnología del Medio AmbienteDoctorado en Ingeniería Química y Ambienta

Stimuli Responsive Polymeric Nanoparticles for Controlled Release of Cargo Molecules

Block copolymers (BCs) are complex macromolecules having, at least, two different polymeric chains chemically connected. These blocks are, in general, mutually immiscible, which leads to phase separation. Due to the length of the macromolecular blocks, this segregation occurs at the nanoscale. If BCs are formed by hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks (amphiphilic BCs) these materials can undergo segregation in a selective solvent, e.g. water, resulting on micelles or vesicles above a critical concentration, as occurs with surfactants. Polymeric micelles or vesicles have higher stability than those formed by low molecular weight amphiphiles and have been explored in Medicine as nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery. Objective of this project is the preparation of nanoparticles from amphiphilic BCs to bond stimuli-responsive molecules by multiple hydrogen bonding (molecular recognition). Hydrophobic blocks having 2,6-diacylaminopyridine moieties will be employed for supramolecular assemblies. The high tendency to form polymeric nanoparticles of these BCs will be studied. Azobenzene groups will be easily incorporated to provide a light response to the nanoparticles that can be used for the release of cargo molecules. Furthermore, the presence of pyridine rings also provide of a pH response. Tasks to be carried out in this project initially are: - Preparation of precursors and supramolecular amphiphilic BCs having 2,6-diacylaminopyridine groups. - Complete characterization of the prepared materials, including spectroscopic and thermal analysis techniques. - Preparation of polymeric nanoparticles by using different methodologies and study by transmission electron microscopy

Impregnation of açaí residue extracts in silica-aerogel

Producción CientíficaAçaí (Euterpe Oleracea mart.) is a berry found in Amazon Rainforest, with a high content of polyphenols and flavonoids. This work studied the formulation of bioactive compounds extracted from E. Oleracea fruit, by impregnation in silica-aerogel. Three fruit fractions were studied: pulp, seeds and slurry, and two extracts were obtained from each fraction: an oil fraction obtained by Soxhlet extraction, and a polyphenolic-rich extract obtained by Pressurized Microwave Assisted Extraction. With pulp oil, impregnation yields of 58.6% were obtained by air drying, with surface area of 0.7687 m²/g, while with supercritical drying method, the impregnation yield decreased to 15.3%, with surface area of 823.4 m²/g. This indicates a loss of oil by extraction during drying. With pulp extract, the best result was obtained using indirect wet impregnation and supercritical drying, with 16.4% of impregnation. By release assay, contents of 2.276 mg/g(aerogel) of polyphenols and 0.197 mg/g(aerogel) of anthocyanins were identified.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq, Brazil (200737/2015-5). Doctoral scholarshipMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad (CTQ2016-79777-R

Stimuli responsive polymeric nanoparticles for controlled release of cargo molecules

This work has been carried in the labs of the Department of Organic Chemistry in the Science Faculty of University of Zaragoza and Institute of Materials science of Aragon and in According to the final project requirement of the master “Nanostructured Materials for Nanotechnology Application”.Block copolymers (BCs) are complex macromolecules having, at least, two different polymeric chains chemically connected. These blocks are, in general, mutually immiscible, which leads to phase separation. Due to the length of the macromolecular blocks, this segregation occurs at the nanoscale. If BCs are formed by hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks (amphiphilic BCs) these materials can undergo segregation in a selective solvent, e.g. water, resulting on micelles or vesicles above a critical concentration, as occurs with surfactants. Polymeric micelles or vesicles have higher stability than those formed by low molecular weight amphiphiles and have been explored in Medicine as nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery. Objective of this project is the preparation of nanoparticles from amphiphilic BCs to bond stimuli-responsive molecules by multiple hydrogen bonding (molecular recognition). Hydrophobic blocks having 2,6-diacylaminopyridine moieties will be employed for supramolecular assemblies. The high tendency to form polymeric nanoparticles of these BCs will be studied. Azobenzene groups will be easily incorporated to provide a light response to the nanoparticles that can be used for the release of cargo molecules. Furthermore, the presence of pyridine rings also provide of a pH response. Tasks to be carried out in this project initially are: - Preparation of precursors and supramolecular amphiphilic BCs having 2,6-diacylaminopyridine groups. - Complete characterization of the prepared materials, including spectroscopic and thermal analysis techniques. - Preparation of polymeric nanoparticles by using different methodologies and study by transmission electron microscopy.Peer Reviewe

Characterization of industrial açaí pulp residues and valorization by microwave-assisted extraction

Producción CientíficaAçaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) is a berry found in Amazon Rainforest. Due to its increasing commercial value, the cultivation of this fruit in northern Brazil is growing quickly, and with it the increasing production of waste by this industry also poses a growing problem. This study presents a characterization of all residual fractions of the industrial processing of açaí and assesses its potential as biomass and phytochemicals source, determining the content of lipids, extractives, sugars, ashes, proteins, and the phytochemical composition of each residual fraction. It also studies the extraction of these compounds by intensified microwave-assisted techniques (ambient-pressure microwave extraction and pressurized microwave extraction at 1.5 bar and 3 bar). The oil content represents 43.1 % of the dry pulp weight, in which fatty acids such as oleic acid (58.5 %), linoleic acid (22.3 %), palmitic acid (11.4 %) and stearic acid (4.1 %) were identified. The pulp and seeds showed potential as antioxidant agent with ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) values of 89,760 and 65,263 μmol TE/100 gDM. Microwave pre-treatments allowed to increase the polyphenol contents and the antioxidant activities of extracts obtained from the pulp and seed residues, yielding products of interest for the cosmetic or food industry.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq, Brazil (200737/2015-5). Doctoral scholarshipMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad, proyecto (CTQ2016-79777-R

Formulation of açaí (E. oleracea Mart.) Pulp and seeds extracts by co-precipitation in Supercritical Antisolvent (SAS) technology

Producción CientíficaAçaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) is a black-purple berry, typically found in Amazon Rainforest, and a natural phytochemical source, which shows a high content of polyphenols and flavonoids, with remarkable properties as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and natural dye. The precipitation and encapsulation of Açaí extracts with biopolymers by Supercritical Anti-Solvent (SAS) process were investigated and proposed as primary formulation to protect the active compounds from early degradation and its application in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and alimentary products. The extractives were obtained from pulp and seeds by Pressurized Microwave assisted Energy (PMAE)(300 W,1.5 bar) using acidified ethanol/water (1:1v/v) as a solvent. The extracts were characterized in terms of total polyphenols content (TPC). The SAS process was carried out by semi-continuous batch at constant conditions (40 °C,100 bar). Particle morphology was studied by SEM, TGA and FTIR. The best results were obtained when ethanol and PVP were applied, obtaining a particle size reduction and an increment of TPC.Ministerio de Ciencia, innovación y Universidades (CTQ2016-79777-R)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq, Brazil (200737/2015-5). Doctoral scholarshi