Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus L.) by-products as a source of inulin: how to valorise an agricultural supply chain extracting an added-value compound

Abstract

This study is aimed at valorizing artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus L.) by-products as source of inulin, a fiber showing relevant prebiotic properties, through the realization of a waste value chain. Starting from artichoke by-products, the inulin fraction was assessed both in terms of total amount and degree of polymerization as a function of the harvest season and storage conditions. These parameters have been found significant at influencing inulin yield of extraction. For the first time, artichoke wastes were proposed to be exploited taking into account the optimal conditions to preserve their high-added chemical value. Our data suggest that Italian farms could obtain from their wastes a total amount of 16 t/year of inulin with an average polymerization degree higher than 40 and would allow the development of a circular economy process within the artichoke supply chain, by exploiting its wastes representing 70% of the total artichoke biomass. Experimental Plant Material and TreatmentIn this study, artichokes belonging to the Brindisino cultivar (C. cardunculus var. scolymus (L.) Fiori) were collected in three sampling sites in Italy: Lombardy (45°07'29.6"N 9°12'30.0"E), Calabria (39°43'21.1"N 16°10'16.0"E) and Apulia (40°39'30.5"N 17°42'29.3"E) during 5 different

The differential expression of the two key genes involved in fructans biosynthetic pathway in artichoke vs wild cardoon improves inulin-type fructans

“…Fructan 1exohydrolases (1-FEHs) mediates degradation of inulin by eliminating terminal fructose with the formation of lower-DP inulin (Kusch et al 2009). Remarkably, the concentration and the inulin pro le as DP, vary greatly among species (Vergauwen et al 2003); however, inulin molecules with a chain length up to 200, which is the highest degree of polymerization of inulin molecules known in plants, have been found in artichoke (Lattanzio et al 2009;Cavini et al 2020). Recently, it was also demonstrated that long chain inulines (DP 10-60) exert higher immune response in humans than oligosaccharide of DP < 25 (de…”

“…To evaluate the mono-disaccharides and fructans content, supernatant and resuspended pellets were evaporated to dryness (Cavini et al, 2020).…”

Valorisation, Green Extraction Development, and Metabolomic Analysis of Wild Artichoke By-Product Using Pressurised Liquid Extraction UPLC–HRMS and Multivariate Data Analysis

“…The varieties of artichoke differ both morphologically and in the content of secondary metabolites [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. The main biomolecules contained in the artichoke are caffeoylquinic acids, such as cynarin and chlorogenic acid, flavone glycosides, inulin sugars, and minerals [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. They contribute to the health-promoting effects on humans and there are known, different studies that show the use of artichoke as antilipidemic, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective [ 12 ], making it a “functional food” with interesting pharmacological and nutraceutical activities [ 13 ].…”

“…However, these by-products are high in many phytochemicals similar to those of its edible flower heads including phenolic compounds, [ 14 , 15 , 16 ], inulin [ 17 ], and dietary fibre [ 18 ]. Based on interest in renewable resources of pharmaceutically active biomolecules, many investigations have been conducted on recycling and the optimisation of the downstream processes for maximal exploitation of artichoke biowastes [ 10 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. However, most of these studies have focused their attention mainly on the bracts, giving little importance to the leaves which, although to a lesser extent, represent a huge waste.…”

Enzymatic Hydrolysate of Cinnamon Waste Material as Feedstock for the Microbial Production of Carotenoids

“…One of the main interesting strategies to ennoble minor crops consists in the extraction of bioactive molecules by using chemical or biotechnological processes with low environmental impact [5,6]. In the case of the presence of residual biomasses after processing, these are mostly used to produce energy, which is a low-added value product usually obtained starting from abundant biomasses to compensate costs and market requirements.…”