425 research outputs found
Studio comparativo di differenti tecniche di micro e nano-incapsulamento per la stabilizzazione dell’estratto di Hibiscus sabdariffa
No full textSustainable Development of Biodegradable Antimicrobial Electrospun Membranes for Active Food Packaging and Economic Analysis
No full textElectrospinning is a much-explored technique in the membrane fabrication field, particularly in active food packaging. Despite the widespread use of this technique, there remains a significant gap in the literature regarding the actual economic evaluation of the viability of biomaterials compared to traditional plastics. This study seeks to fill this gap by developing electrospun, vanillin-loaded zein membranes to evaluate their efficacy in terms of antimicrobial activity, biodegradability, and economic viability. From a sustainability perspective, the newly developed membranes show an impressive ability to inhibit yeast growth by 75%, with complete degradation observed in only 7 days. This underscores their potential to mitigate environmental impact and promote environmentally friendly packaging solutions to reduce both plastic waste and food loss while maintaining safety and quality. However, the economic sustainability of these membranes is still an open challenge. It becomes clear that the main bottleneck does not lie in the innovative production technology, but rather in the prices of raw materials, particularly natural additives. This underscores the need for supportive measures from institutions to incentivize the transition to sustainable packaging alternatives and the importance of the full circularity concept. This work shows that achieving the European goal of zero plastic waste requires concrete efforts
Potential Use of PLA-Based Films Loaded with Antioxidant Agents from Spent Coffee Grounds for Preservation of Refrigerated Foods
No full textThe aim of this work concerned the production of an active food packaging suitable for refrigerated foods. Polylactic-acid-based films were produced by optimizing the solvent casting technique and testing different loadings of extracts obtained from spent coffee grounds. Indeed, an extract obtained by high-pressure and -temperature extraction (HPTE) and a further purified extract by liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) were separately used as active agents, and the effects on packaging features and active compounds migration were analyzed. The selected active agents showed antioxidant and lipid peroxidation inhibition effects on food simulants (peroxide values of 9.2 ÷ 12.0 meqO2/kg extra virgin olive oil), demonstrating the possibility of enhancing food shelf life. In addition, significant effects on the packaging structure due to the presence of the extract were observed, since it can enhance gas barrier properties of the polymer (O2 permeability of 1.6 ÷ 1.3 × 10−9 cm2/s) and confer better processability. In general, the HPTE extract exhibited better performances than the further purified extract, which was due to the presence of a complex pool of antioxidants and the browning effect on the film but a limited loading capacity on the polymer (840 μg caffeine/g PLA), while higher loading capabilities were enabled using LLE extract
Improvement of Natural Polymeric Films Properties by Blend Formulation for Sustainable Active Food Packaging
No full textActive packaging manufactured with biopolymers extracted from agri-food waste is one of the most innovative and eco-sustainable strategies for maintaining food quality. However, biopolymers often present poor performances, which hinders their competitiveness compared with plastics. This work focused on developing and optimizing a natural polymeric blend produced by solvent casting based on zein and chitosan to improve the pure biopolymers’ properties. The best results were obtained by blending zein and chitosan in a 1:2 weight ratio. The films were characterized in terms of morphology, mechanical and oxygen barrier properties, thermal stability, transparency and wettability. The blend production allowed us to obtain lower brittleness and lower stiffness materials compared with pure polymer films, with oxygen permeability values two orders of magnitude lower than pure zein, better optical properties with respect to pure chitosan and good thermal stability. The wettability properties of the blend did not result in being altered with respect to the single polymer, which was found to have hydrophilic behavior, highlighting the strong influence of glycerol used as a plasticizer. The results suggested that the polymer blending strategy is a viable and cost-effective method for producing packaging materials as alternatives to plastics
Oil-in-water nanoemulsions loaded with lycopene extracts encapsulated by spray drying: Formulation, characterization and optimization
No full textLycopene is very susceptible to degradation once released from the protective chromoplast environment. In this study, oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsions coupled with spray drying technology were applied for the encapsulation and stabilization of lycopene extracted from tomato waste. Tomato extract was obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction. Nanoemulsions were prepared by a high-speed rotor stator using isopropyl myristate as the oil phase and Pluronic F-127 as the emulsifier for the aqueous external phase. The effect of emulsification process parameters was investigated. Spray drying of the produced emulsions was attempted to obtain a stabilized dry powder after the addition of a coating agent. The effect of different coating agents (maltodextrin, inulin, gum arabic, pectin, whey and polyvinylpyrrolidone), drying temperature (120–170 °C), and feed flow rate (3–9 ml·min−1) on the obtained particles was evaluated. Results revealed that the emulsion formulation of 20/80 (O/W) with 1.5% (mass fraction) of Pluronic F-127 as stabilizer in the aqueous phase resulted in a stable nanoemulsion with droplet sizes in the range of 259–276 nm with a unimodal and sharp size distribution. The extract in the nanoemulsion was well protected at room temperature with a degradation rate of lycopene of about 50% during a month of storage time. The most stable emulsions were then processed by spray drying to obtain a dry powder. Spray drying was particularly successful when using maltodextrin as a coating agent, obtaining dried spherical particles with mean diameters of 4.87±0.17 μm with a smooth surface. The possibility of dissolving the spray dried powder in order to repristinate. The original emulsion was also successfully verified
Convenience in Funding Upgrading Works
No full textWith reference to upgrading actions on existing building stock, Construction Procurement Guidance, No.7 Whole Life Costs (Office of Government Commerce) states: ‘All procurement must be made solely on the basis of value for money in terms of the optimum combination of global costs and quality to meet the user’s requirements’. Cash-flow analyses allow showing the economic value of investments for alternative technological upgrading works extended all along their service lives. Optimisation of choices is not only a matter of cash-flow analyses—choices should not be made only according to the lowest costs but also considering several aspects that can be brought back to the concept of ‘technical-sustainable value’, which mainly derives from competent functional and environmental assessments of the reference analysis system. The mentioned interrelation should theoretically be adequately considered but this is seldom the case in the common building practice. Cost estimate for an engineered system has to entail much more detailed analyses on costs, energy, sustainability and technologies. Possible technological solutions would be convenient in terms of technological/technical utility, but less convenient in monetary terms for the funding subject. Under the economic point of view, cash outflow means less economic convenience in funding a given technology. All that stated above, nowadays effective data-display global cost-quality indicators are rarely available in literature. The present manuscript introduces to the reader fundamentals of an economic tool proposal designed by the author with the use of synthetically displaying interrelations between cash-flow scenarios and quality-sustainability in upgrading processes on existing buildings. Fundamentals have been tested on a reference case study. Then, fundamentals have been contextualized to the Italian Legislative framework: in Italy, in multi-owner existing residential buildings, expenditure allocation is carried out based on thousandths. The thousandth type to be considered is due to the configuration of the case under review and to balance-sheet expenditure to be allocated to owners. Property thousandths allocated to housing units have been used to allocate expenses for technological/energy upgrading works. The author has tried to find out the amount of a possible bank investment that a user might start at building Time ‘0’ to theoretically clear possible economic losses, trying to highlight technical utility of the technological solution that would be disadvantaged in economic terms. ‘Neutral’ mathematical finance formulas have been used to calculate the theoretical capital to be invested by an owner based on the reference cash-flow scenario. Conclusion will be drawn at the end of the manuscript
Recupero edilizio e nuova costruzione. Non solo risparmio energetico. Importanza della valutazione della fattibilità applicativa a monte della modellazione energetica
No full textThe expressions ‘low environmental impact’ and ‘energy efficiency’ mean much more than ‘compliance to regulation and technical specifications’ (89/106/ EEC, article 4).
Nowadays, solutions implemented in actions on buildings at least have to comply with regulatory values or parameters with reference to a specific time outlook. This is due to policies and guidelines issued at several levels, starting from the European one to get to the local one, promoting: for new buildings, reviews of design processes so as to create sustainable buildings providing for high-quality housing, for existing buildings, reviews on as-built assets so as to limit energy consumption.
Designers selecting potentially applicable ‘sustainable’ technologies should not only assess their profiles in terms of energy and performance which, of course, are essential.
Together with the abovementioned issues, in addition to convenience, critical points and viability constraints should be reasonably taken into account during the selection process.
For this purpose, some ideas are introduced in form of a journalistic discourse, which, according to the author, can be useful to those designers who have to select from different ranges of viable technological solutions, both based on traditional building practices and on new or emerging practices
Low-level laser therapy: Case-control study in dogs with sterile pyogranulomatous pododermatitis
No full textAim: Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is a therapeutic photobiostimulation with properties in reducing swelling, inflammation, and promoting tissue healing. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate LLLT in sterile pyogranulomatous pododermatitis in five dogs.
Materials and Methods: In each dog, one lesion was designated as the control (treated with a 0.0584% hydrocortisone aceponate spray), and one or more other lesions were treated with a gallium aluminum arsenide-laser, daily for 5 days. Lesions were scored before treatment (D0), at the end (D4), 16 days after the last laser treatment (D20), and after 2 months (D65).
Results: Comparing the treated lesion group with the control lesion group, the clinical score was similar at D0, whereas there was a statistically significant difference at D4 and D20; in the treated group over time, there was a statistically significant improvement between D0, D4, and D20. Lesion recurrence was absent in more than 50% of the treated lesions at D65. No adverse reactions were reported.
Conclusion: Given the positive results of this first clinical study, it would be interesting to extend the study to confirm the validity of this type of therapy in sterile pyogranulomatous pododermatitis in the dog
High-Pressure Technologies for the Recovery of Bioactive Molecules from Agro-Industrial Waste
No full textLarge amounts of food waste are produced each year. These residues require appropriate management to reduce their environmental impact and, at the same time, economic loss. However, this waste is still rich in compounds (e.g., colorants, antioxidants, polyphenols, fatty acids, vitamins, and proteins) that can find potential applications in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Conventional extraction techniques suffer some drawbacks when applied to the exploitation of food residues, including large amounts of polluting solvents, increased time of extraction, possible degradation of the active molecules during extraction, low yields, and reduced extraction selectivity. For these reasons, advanced extraction techniques have emerged in order to obtain efficient residue exploitation using more sustainable processes. In particular, performing extraction under high-pressure conditions, such as supercritical fluids and pressurized liquid extraction, offers several advantages for the extraction of bioactive molecules. These include the reduced use of toxic solvents, reduced extraction time, high selectivity, and the possibility of being applied in combination in a cascade of progressive extractions. In this review, an overview of high-pressure extraction techniques related to the recovery of high added value compounds from waste generated in food industries is presented and a critical discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each process is reported. Furthermore, the possibility of combined multi-stage extractions, as well as economic and environmental aspects, are discussed in order to provide a complete overview of the topic
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