No abstract

Green coconut (Cocos nucifera L. var. dwarf) is one of the most cultivated commodities on the Brazilian coast. Most green coconut waste is burned or disposed of as garbage on coconut-producing properties, on the streets of large cities, and in landfills. Incorrect disposal of coconut waste causes several problems as proliferation of disease vectors, occupation of large areas in landfills, production of gases, and contamination of soil and groundwater. The conversion of this biomass can be carried out through pyrolysis. The bio-oil from the pyrolytic process has a complex chromatographic profile requiring a fractionation step to improve its separation and characterization. In this work, the bio-oil was fractionated according to its acidity (strongly acidic, slightly acidic, basic, and neutral), and both the bio-oil and the fractions were analyzed by fast-GC × GC/TOFMS. The fractionation process used was able to reduce the complexity of the generated crude bio-oil. Three hundred and five different compounds were identified between the fractions analyzed and the crude bio-oil. The time for each analysis was 19 min, demonstrating the gain of the separation/detection technique without losing quality in the identification. The majority of the compounds in the fractions were phenol, catechols, eugenols, and furfural, reinforcing the idea of using this bio-oil as a precursor in the chemical industry.

Coffee is an important agricultural product grown worldwide and one of the most consumed beverages in the world. However, its consumption produces a large amount of waste that can be used in industry, benefiting the environment. Thus, the objective of this work was to pyrolyze spent coffee ground generated through the extraction of the coffee beverage (hot aqueous extraction) using two types of coffee, the traditional and the decaffeinated one, and subsequently apply the acid‐base‐neutral extraction technique to produce bio‐oils. This approach aims to isolate nitrogenous compounds, based on the industrial and pharmacological importance of this class of compounds. The acid‐base‐neutral extraction technique used is simple, of low cost, and aims to pre‐concentrate the nitrogenous compounds based on the basic character given by the nitrogen present in these molecules. The analysis of crude bio‐oils (before the fractionation) and the respective fractions was performed by gas chromatography‐Quadrupole‐mass spectrometry. The bio‐oils showed high levels of fatty acids, hydrocarbons, and other oxygen compounds, with only traces of nitrogenated compounds being identified. The acid‐base‐neutral extraction, after solvent recovery, allowed pre‐concentration of these compounds and their identification, highlighting quinolines among the most important compounds and with the greatest biotechnological application.