CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials

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The Health-Promoting Potential of Salix spp. Bark Polar Extracts: Key Insights on Phenolic Composition and In Vitro Bioactivity and Biocompatibility

Publication . Ramos, Patrícia A. B.; Moreirinha, Catarina; Silva, Sara; Costa, Eduardo M.; Veiga, Mariana; Coscueta, Ezequiel R.; Santos, Sónia A. O.; Almeida, Adelaide; Pintado, M. Manuela; Freire, Carmen S. R.; Silva, Artur M. S.; Silvestre, Armano J. D.

Salix spp. have been exploited for energy generation, along with folk medicine use of bark extracts for antipyretic and analgesic benefits. Bark phenolic components, rather than salicin, have demonstrated interesting bioactivities, which may ensure the sustainable bioprospection of Salix bark. Therefore, this study highlights the detailed phenolic characterization, as well as the in vitro antioxidant, anti-hypertensive, Staphylococcus aureus growth inhibitory effects, and biocompatibility of Salix atrocinerea Brot., Salix fragilis L., and Salix viminalis L. bark polar extracts. Fifteen phenolic compounds were characterized by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection-mass spectrometry analysis, from which two flavan-3-ols, an acetophenone, five flavanones, and a flavonol were detected, for the first time, as their bark components. Salix bark extracts demonstrated strong free radical scavenging activity (5.58–23.62 µg mL−1 IC50 range), effective inhibition on angiotensin-I converting enzyme (58–84%), and S. aureus bactericidal action at 1250–2500 µg mL−1 (6–8 log CFU mL−1 reduction range). All tested Salix bark extracts did not show cytotoxic potential against Caco-2 cells, as well as S. atrocinerea Brot. and S. fragilis L. extracts at 625 and 1250 µg mL−1 against HaCaT and L929 cells. These valuable findings can pave innovative and safer food, nutraceutical, and/or cosmetic applications of Salix bark phenolic-containing fractions.

2019Journal article

Open access

Bacterial nanocellulose membranes loaded with vitamin B-based ionic liquids for dermal care applications

Publication . Chantereau, G.; Sharma, M.; Abednejad, A.; Vilela, C.; Costa, E. M.; Veiga, M.; Antunes, F.; Pintado, M. M.; Sèbe, G.; Coma, V.; Freire, M. G.; Freire, C. S. R.; Silvestre, A. J. D.

The development of innovative bio-based skin care products has received an increase attention in the latter years. In the present work, the synthesis of original active principle ingredients based ionic liquids (ILs) with cholinium cation and vitamins B anions followed by their incorporation in bacterial nanocellulose (BC) membranes for topical applications is reported. Three ILs, namely cholinium nicotinate [Ch][B3], cholinium pantothenate [Ch][B5] and cholinium pyridoxylate [Ch][B6], were synthesized through a metathesis reaction and their structure characterized in detail. Thermal analysis confirmed their denomination as ILs and their high thermal resistance. The solubility of these ILs was higher than their vitamin precursors, especially in the case of [Ch][B3] whose solubility increased 30.6-fold enhancing the bioavailability of this vitamin. The incorporation of ILs in BC led to transparent and homogeneous membranes stable up to 190 °C. ILs acted as plasticizers reducing BC brittleness that facilitated their application on irregular skin regions. Moreover, the re-hydration ability of BC-ILs membranes was improved 2.9 to 4.8-fold in comparison to BC, ensuring adequate hydration for ILs release, while the release of ILs in buffer solutions was more complete and faster than the release of vitamins. Finally, BC-ILs were proven not cytotoxic to skin epithelial cells and thus are suitable materials for skin care applications.

2020Journal article

Open access

Benefits of pulse consumption on metabolism and health: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Publication . Ferreira, Helena; Vasconcelos, Marta; Gil, Ana M.; Pinto, Elisabete

Pulses are nutrient-dense foods that have for a long time been empirically known to have beneficial effects in human health. In the last decade, several studies have gathered evidence of the metabolic benefits of pulse intake. However, it remains unclear at what amounts these effects may be attained. This study aimed to systematically review the scientific outputs of the last two decades regarding health benefits of pulse consumption and the amounts necessary for positive outcomes to be achieved. A PubMed search including keywords [(“dietary pulses”, “pulses”, “legumes”, “grain legumes”, “bean”, “chickpea”, “pea”, “lentil”, “cowpea”, “faba bean”, “lupin”) and (“inflammation”, “inflammatory markers”, “C-reactive protein”, “blood lipids”, “cholesterol”, “cardiometabolic health”, “cardiovascular disease”, “diabetes”, “glycaemia”, “insulin”, “HOMA-IR”, “body weight”, “body fat”, “obesity”, “overweight”, “metabolome”, “metabolic profile”, “metabolomics”, “biomarkers”, “microbiome”, “microbiota”, “gut”)] was performed. Only English written papers referring to human dietary interventions, longer than one day, focusing on whole pulses intake, were included. Most of the twenty eligible publications reported improvements in blood lipid profile, blood pressure, inflammation biomarkers, as well as, in body composition, resulting from pulse daily amounts of 150 g (minimum-maximum: 54-360 g/day; cooked). Concerns regarding methodological approaches are evident and the biochemical mechanisms underlying such effects require further investigation.

2020Journal article

Open access

Employment of phosphate solubilising bacteria on fish scales – turning food waste into an available phosphorus source

Publication . Santana, C. A.; Piccirillo, C.; Pereira, S. I. A.; Pullard, R. C.; Lima, S. M.; Castro, P. M. L.

The increased use of fertilisers is a well-known problem; linked to this, there is an always higher demand for phosphorus (P). Because of this, it is crucial to use P from all possible sources and, if necessary, turn it into a soluble form, available for plants/crops. In this paper we report the use of aerobic phosphate solubilising bacteria (PSB) on the scales of the tilapia (Coptodon rendalli) fish, a waste from the food industry; this is the first time that PSB were employed on fish scales to mediate the available P. The scales were calcined to 700 °C to obtain a nanoscale powdery material (more easily solubilised), made of hydroxyapatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, a calcium phosphate with very low solubility. Seventeen different PSB strains were tested for their ability to solubilise phosphate (commercial tricalcium phosphate - TCP) and hydroxyapatite from fish scale (FSHA). The best performing bacterial strain (Acidovorax oryzae ZS 1–7) led to a P solubilisation more than 60 times higher than the negative control – at 325 mg/L, almost 40% of the available P was solubilised – one of the highest increased efficiencies reported for PBS. Such solubilisation was linked to a decrease of the pH to more acidic values of about 4. The strain ZS 1–7 showed higher P solubilisation efficiency with fish-derived FSHA than with commercial TCP. This approach showed a promising strategy for the valorisation of residues of the fish industry, turning them into a source of P, to be used for sustainable agriculture.

2019Journal article

Restricted access