Maria Grimaldi

The monitoring of environmental pollution has attracted growing attention to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) due to their long persistence and resistance to natural degradation. Despite extensive research into the occurrence of PFASs in the environment, their interactions with biodegradable polymers remain understudied, highlighting a substantial knowledge gap regarding their adsorption capacity and associated toxicological implications. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was to evaluate PFAS adsorption onto biodegradable microplastics (BMPs) and compare their behavior to non- BMPs. Although biodegradable plastics (BPs) are generally considered environmentally friendly polymers, the present study indicates that they can act as vectors for PFASs as shown by LC-MS-MS analysis. Based on the current results, PFAS adsorption depends on the polymer type and PFAS chemical structure. Although BMPs are not the only carriers of PFASs, compared with various natural particles, their persistence and mobility can still influence the transport and bioavailability of PFASs in the environment. Future studies are required for assessing the environmental fate of PFASs in systems containing biodegradable polymer, in order to enhance predictive accuracy and mitigate associated risks to both the environment and human health.

Oxidative stress is one of the main factors affecting food stability; therefore, antioxidant additives are generally used as food supplements for shelf-life improvement. In this work, the use of an antioxidant gel based on natural polysaccharides was tested on different types of meat, such as hamburger, beef steak, and horse fillet. The oxidative stability was measured on minced meat by Oxitest reactor, an automated tool performing accelerated shelf-life analysis by monitoring the fat oxidation process. The primary and secondary shelf-life of the gel was evaluated by DPPH assay. The effect of the gel on meat shelf-life was examined by colorimetry providing information about the color variation (∆E) during time. Treated meats showed lower color variation compared to untreated samples. Moreover, some color coordinates were selected as markers to follow the oxidation phenomenon. In conclusion, the antioxidant gel was found to preserve meat from oxidation, increasing stability during shelf-life.

The ecological transition is leading industry towards the use of materials of natural origin, which are often proposed for food contact materials as a sustainable solution to reduce plastic use. They are perceived as safe by consumers; however, a strict control on potential contaminants able to migrate to food and beverages is necessary to assess safety. Thus, the development of analytical methods for the detection and the identification of potentially occurring harmful substances is strongly encouraged, and the combination of different techniques can be a solution to obtain complementary information. In this work, GC-MS, HPLC-MS, ATR-IR and ESEM have been exploited with the aim of monitoring both volatile and non-volatile compounds, and to control surface composition and morphology. Extraction with solvent and migration experiments with simulants were performed on 11 commercial samples, including plates, caps, and wooden coffee stirrers. Global and specific migration studies were carried out, and possible differences before and after use were explored. Analysis after solvent extraction confirmed the presence of additives, and of Non-Intentionally-Added Substances (NIAS) that were also found in migration studies. Data on morphological characterisation were useful to control the item composition, and to check the stability of the materials after repeated use.

One of the most difficult issues in the juice industry is to manufacture juices where processing processes minimise the impact on the native characteristics of the fruits. In this study, high-pressure technology was used on whole apple fruits in order to evaluate the effect on the juice production. Two varieties, cv. Limoncella and cv. Pink Lady, were considered. Preliminarily, the fruits were subjected to different pressures, and histological as well as pomological measurements were taken in order to identify the best treatment condition, which was established to be 600 MPa for 3 min. Juice samples were then characterised by measuring the colour, viscosity, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and total phenolic content (TPC). The storage colour stability of the juices for both varieties showed not significant L* values between the untreated and pre-treated fruits. Juices obtained from pre-treated fruits had a viscosity significantly higher than that obtained from untreated ones. Interestingly, the TPC of high-pressure processing (HPP) pre-treated juice resulted in being significantly higher compared to the untreated ones. The HPP pre-treatment can be considered as a commercial application to modulate some quality standards for apple juice production.

Background: “FODMAPs” (fermentable-oligo-, di-, monosaccharides, and polyols) are a group of fermentable carbohydrates and polyols largely diffused in food products. Despite their beneficial effects as prebiotics, people affected by irritable bowel syndrome manifest symptoms when eating these carbohydrates. A low-FODMAP diet seems to be the only possible therapy proposed for symptom management. Bakery products are a common source of FODMAPs, whose pattern and total amount can be affected by their processing. This work aims at studying some of the technological parameters that can influence the FODMAPs pattern in bakery products during the production process. Methods: high-performance anion exchange chromatography coupled to a pulsed amperometric detector (HPAEC-PAD) was used as a highly selective system for carbohydrates evaluation analyses on flours, doughs, and crackers. These analyses were performed using two different columns, the CarboPac PA200 and CarboPac PA1, which are selective for oligosaccharide and simple sugar separation, respectively. Results: emmer and hemp flours were selected to prepare doughs as they contained low oligosaccharide content. Two different mixes of ferments were used at different times of fermentation to evaluate the best conditions to achieve low-FODMAP crackers. Conclusion: the proposed approach allows carbohydrate evaluation during crackers processing and permits the selection of opportune conditions to obtain low-FODMAP products.

Cancer still poses a global threat, since a lot of tumors remain untreatable despite all the available chemotherapeutic drugs, whose side effects, it must also be noted, still raise concerns. The antitumoral properties of marine seaweeds make them a potential source of new, less toxic, and more active antitumoral agents. Furthermore, these natural extracts can be combined with nanotechnology to increase their efficacy and improve targeting. In this work, a Codium tomentosum (CT) aqueous extract was employed for the green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au@CT). The complete characterization of Au@CT was performed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Zeta potential, electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), high-performance steric exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), and by the determination of their antioxidant capacity. The antiproliferative activity of Au@CT was then tested in hepatic (HEPG-2) and pancreatic (BxPC-3) cell lines. Their potential capacity as enhancers of gemcitabine, a drug frequently used to treat both types of tumors, was also tested. The activity of Au@CT was compared to the activity of the CT extract alone. A synergistic effect with gemcitabine was proven for HEPG-2. Our results showed that gold nanoparticles synthesized from seaweed extracts with antitumoral activity could be a good gemcitabine enhancer.

Mechanical properties of polymer biocomposites are influenced by the interaction between the matrix and the filler surface. In this work, composites based on poly(butylene-adipate-terephthalate) (PBAT) filled with micrometric particles of zein-TiO2 complex (ZTC) were realized via solvent casting technique at different concentrations, equal to 0, 5, 10, and 20 wt%. After pelletization, the resulting materials were injection molded into standard specimens, employed for the uniaxial tensile test (UTT) characterization. From the stress-strain curves, Young’s modulus ( E ), yield stress ( σ y ), stress at break ( σ B ), elongation at break ( ε B ), and toughness ( T ) were collected. The addition of the ZTC proved to show a reinforcing effect on the polymeric matrix, with an increase in both E and σ y . Modelling of the mechanical properties was performed by applying Kerner’s and Pukánszky’s equations. Kerner’s model, applied on experimental E values, returned a very good correspondence between collected and theoretical values. From the application of Pukánszky’s model to σ y , the obtained B value showed a good interfacial interaction between the matrix and the filler. Due to the enhanced stiffness of the composites, a reduction in the true stress at break ( σ T , B ) was observed. The modified Pukánszky’s model gave a B value lower than the one obtained for the yield, but still in the range of acceptable values for microcomposites.

The most common preservation process for chili peppers is drying, which inevitably causes oxidative degradation of thermolabile molecules. The aim of this research was to evaluate the potential protective effect exerted by an active ingredient based on grape seed oil, on pepper fruits. Grapeseed oil is rich in antioxidant compounds and was applied to pepper’s surface in form of a sol–gel product, before fruit thermal treatment. In this work, chili peppers samples were preventively treated with an active solution, and controls (untreated peppers), were submitted to a drying process performed at two different temperatures: 45 and 65 °C. Analysis of capsaicinoids, carotenoids, apocarotenoids, and phenolic content was performed to evaluate possible differences between the sets of samples. Oxidative stability of oil enriched with chili pepper powder aliquots was also measured to evaluate the antioxidant power of the samples. Obtained data showed that treated samples retained a higher amount of capsaicinoids and carotenoids. Oxidative stability of pepper powder was also higher for treated samples than for controls. Furthermore, the thermal treatment performed at 45 °C caused milder modifications than the 65 °C treatment. The applied pre-drying treatment can be proposed to prevent bioactive compounds loss and to enhance product stability and shelf-life.