Recovering Cucurbita pepo cv. ‘Lungo Fiorentino’ Wastes: UHPLC-HRMS/MS Metabolic Profile, the Basis for Establishing Their Nutra- and Cosmeceutical Valorisation

Abstract

Food-waste is produced throughout all the food supply chain, with a large part already achieved at farm level. In fact, fruits and vegetables, which do not satisfy aesthetic demands, cannot be marketed, but their recovery could favour their valorisation for the obtainment of highly qualified goods. In this context, faulty zucchini fruits (cultivar ‘Lungo Fiorentino’), intended for disposal, were rescued as effective, inexpensive and bio-sustainable source for cosmeceutical purposes. Zucchini fruits underwent extraction and fractionation to obtain ZLF-O and ZLF-A extracts, which were chemically characterized by UHPLC-HRMS. ZLF-A extract, rich in flavonols and flavones, scavenged massively DPPH• and ABTS•+, and was not cytotoxic at doses up to 200 μ g/mL. Thus, ZLF-A was incorporated into a base cream formula. Zucchini-based emulsion was deeply screened for its antiradical properties and cytotoxicity towards human keratinocytes and fibroblasts. ZLF-A-enriched cream, whose chemical stability was assessed over time and mimicking different storage conditions, was further tested on reconstructed epidermis disks (EpiskinTM). The recovery of valuable chemical substances from zucchini agro-food waste, complying with the principles of valorisation and sustainable development, can represent a new market force for local farmers. Data acquired were eager to convey a suitable reuse of nutraceuticals rich zucchini waste.

Food waste recovery pathways: Challenges and opportunities for an emerging bio-based circular economy. A systematic review and an assessment

“…Practices like AD recovery (Breitenmoser et al, 2019) significantly reduce CO2 emissions (Prasad, 2016), taking into consideration also the fuel replacement within the power grid (Slorach et al, 2019;Verstraete et al, 2016). FW is also beneficial to polymers production (Uçkun Kiran et al, 2015), from bacteria processing carbon-rich material (Tamis et al, 2015), and as potential feedstock for the production of value added chemicals and for cosmeceutical valorisation (Piccolella et al, 2019). FW could be crucial in the perspective of phosphorus recovery (Carraresi et al, 2018), avoiding rock mining for the phosphorus used in agri-food, medical, construction and industrial systems (Reijnders, 2014;Verstraete et al, 2016).…”

UHPLC-HRMS Analysis of Fagus sylvatica (Fagaceae) Leaves: A Renewable Source of Antioxidant Polyphenols

“…After 24 h, cells were treated for 24 h with different doses of the beech leaf alcoholic extract (25, 50, 100 and 200 µg/mL) or pure quercetin standard (5, 10, and 50 µM). When incubation was completed, inhibition of mitochondrial redox activity was determined by the MTT cell viability test, which was based on the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) dye, as previously described [3,4]. In order to evaluate intracellular ROS inhibition [21], Caco-2 cells were seeded at a density of 2.5 × 10 4 well on a black 96-well microplate in 100 µL growth medium/well.…”

“…Thus, the research and valorization of new plant matrices, also those not directly used for these purposes, need to be explored as a virtuous source of these molecules. Innovative examples are agro-food wastes [2][3][4], or biorefining of forest biomass [5], from which compounds with traditional use in the prevention and/or treatment of different diseases could be favorably isolated [6]. Byproducts from forestry and wood processing industry are promising feedstocks for the extraction of polyphenols, including tannins and other antioxidants [7].…”

Identification of Auxin Metabolites in Brassicaceae by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

“…High-resolution mass spectrometric (HRMS) techniques, such as quadrupole time-of-flight (QToF), provide high selectivity against matrix interferences, as well as accurate mass and structural information, allowing the screening, identification, and target analysis of compounds [21]. These techniques have also been previously applied in the elemental composition analysis of fragmentation ions [22,23,24,25] and in the identification of bioactive substances in plant extracts [26,27,28,29,30]. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) allows physical separation of complex elutes.…”