A critical look at challenges and future scopes of bioactive compounds and their incorporations in the food, energy, and pharmaceutical sector

Abstract

Bioactive compounds refer to secondary metabolites extracted from plants, fungi, microbes, or animals. Besides having pharmacological or toxicological effects on organisms leading to utilization in food and pharmaceutical industries, the discovery of novel properties of such compounds has led to the diversification of their applications, ranging from cosmetics and functionalized biomaterials to bioremediation and alternate fuels. Conventional time-consuming and solvent-intensive methods of extraction are increasingly being replaced by green solvents such as ionic liquids, supercritical fluids, and deep eutectic solvents, as well as non-conventional methods of extraction assisted by microwaves, pulse electric fields, enzymes, ultrasound, or pressure. These methods, along with advances in characterization and optimization strategies, have boosted the commercial viability of extraction especially from agrowastes and organic residues, promoting a sustainable circular economy. Further development of microfluidics, optimization models, nanoencapsulation, and metabolic engineering are expected to overcome certain limitations that restrict the growth of this field, in the context of improving screening, extraction, and economy of processes, as well as retaining biodiversity and enhancing the stability and functionality of such compounds. This review is a compilation of the various extraction and characterization methods employed for bioactive compounds and covers major applications in food, pharmacy, chemicals, energy, and bioremediation. Major limitations and scope of improvement are also discussed. Graphical abstract

Sustainable Food Systems: The Case of Functional Compounds towards the Development of Clean Label Food Products

“…Solvent extraction is the most well-established extraction process for the recovery of phenolic compounds [ 51 ]. These methods have been previously reviewed, and their advantages and disadvantages have been extensively discussed [ 4 , 15 , 50 , 52 ]. The suitability of the solvent is related to the polarity of the compounds that will be extracted.…”

“…Antioxidants (mainly phenolic compounds, carotenoids and other phytochemicals) are the most studied functional compounds, considering their recent inclusion (in 2017) in the prebiotic definition [ 14 ]. Many studies corroborate their health-promoting properties, discussing that they display not only antioxidant activities, but also anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic properties [ 15 ]. Their consumption could possibly decrease the risk of various chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer [ 16 ].…”

“…Novel and “green” extraction methods have been developed targeting, the effective and economical recovery of these compounds. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), enzymatic assisted extraction (EAE), pulsed electric fields (PEF) and natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) are the most studied extraction techniques [ 15 ]. However, each method possesses advantages and limitations and is highly affected by the raw materials and the target compound that is to be extracted.…”

Microalgal bioactive metabolites as promising implements in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals: inspiring therapy for health benefits

“…Bioactive nutrients (bioproducts) are physiologically active substances with functional properties that can potentially improve health. These include enzymes, vitamins, sterols, pigments, fatty acids, proteins and alkaloids (Pai et al 2022 ). The growth of microalgae in extreme environmental and phototrophic conditions has made it develop a protective system in the form of bioactive compounds like antioxidants, chlorophylls, carotenes and phycobiliproteins (Martínez-Ruiz et al 2022 ).…”

Defne Yaprağından (Laurus Nobilis L.) Fenolik Bileşiklerin Ekstraksiyonunda Farklı Yöntemlerin Karşılaştırılması

“…The method used for the extraction of phenolic compounds is usually solvent extraction. Since the conventional method has many disadvantages such as the use of excess solvent and high temperature, long application time, alternative methods are under investigation (Pai et al, 2022). In recent years, several alternative methods have been developed such as enzyme-assisted (Anticona et al, 2020;Boulila et al, 2015), microwave-assisted (Muñiz-Márquez et al, 2018), ultrasound-assisted (Chakraborty et al, 2020), and supercritical fluid (Gan et al, 2020;Zulkafli et al, 2014) extraction methods.…”