Conventional petroleum-derived plastics represent a serious problem for global pollution because, when discarded in the environment, are believed to remain for hundreds of years. In order to reduce dependence on fossil resources, bioplastic materials are being proposed as safer alternatives. Bioplastics are bio-based and/or biodegradable materials, typically derived from renewable sources. Food waste as feedstock represents one of the recent applications in the research field of bioplastics production. To date, several food wastes have been used as raw materials for the production of bioplastics, including mostly fruit and vegetable wastes. The conversion of fruit and vegetable wastes into biomaterials could occur through simple or more complex processes. In some cases, biopolymers extracted from raw biomass are directly manufactured; on the other hand, the extracted biopolymers could be reinforced or used as reinforcing agents and/or natural fillers in order to obtain biocomposites. The present review covers available results on the application of methods used in the last 10 years for the design of biomaterials obtained from formulations made up with both fruits and vegetables by-products. Particular attention will be addressed to the waste pre-treatment, to the bioplastic formulation and to its processing, as well as to the mechanical and physical properties of the obtained materials.

Nitrate and nitrite as sodium or potassium salts are usually added to meat products to develop the characteristic flavor, to inhibit the growth of microorganisms (particularly Clostridium botulinum), and effectively control rancidity by inhibiting lipid oxidation. However, both nitrate and nitrite ions need to be monitored for ensuring the quality and safety of cured meats. In this work, for the first time the content of nitrite and nitrate ions in homogenized meat samples of baby foods was determined by a validated method based on ion chromatography (IC) coupled with conductivity detection. Recoveries of nitrate and nitrite ions in meat samples were not lower than 84 ± 6%. The detection limits of nitrate and nitrite were 0.08 mg L⁻¹ and 0.13 mg L⁻¹, respectively. Five commercial samples of homogenized meat, namely lamb, rabbit, chicken, veal, and beef, for infant feeding were investigated; while nitrite content was below the detection limit, nitrate ranged from 10.7 to 21.0 mg kg⁻¹. The results indicated that nitrate contents were below the European (EU) fixed value of 200 mg kg⁻¹, and an acceptable daily intake of 3.7 mg kg⁻¹ was estimated.

Apples represent a greater proportion of the worldwide fruit supply, due to their availability on the market and to the high number of existing cultivar varieties and apple-based products (fresh fruit, fruit juice, cider and crushed apples). Several studies on apple fruit metabolites are available, with most of them focusing on their healthy properties’ evaluation. In general, the metabolic profile of apple fruits strongly correlates with most of their peculiar characteristics, such as taste, flavor and color. At the same time, many bioactive molecules could be identified as markers of a specific apple variety. Therefore, a complete description of the analytical protocols commonly used for apple metabolites’ characterization and quantification could be useful for researchers involved in the identification of new phytochemical compounds from different apple varieties. This review describes the analytical methods published in the last ten years, in order to analyze the most important primary and secondary metabolites of Malus domestica fruits. In detail, this review gives an account of the spectrophotometric, chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods. A discussion on the quantitative and qualitative analytical shortcomings for the identification of sugars, fatty acids, polyphenols, organic acids, carotenoids and terpenes found in apple fruits is reported.

Pistacia lentiscus shows a long range of biological activities, and it has been used in traditional medicine for treatment of various kinds of diseases. Moreover, related essential oil keeps important health-promoting properties. However, less is known about P. lentiscus hydrosol, a main by-product of essential oil production, usually used for steam distillation itself or discarded. In this work, by using ultra-high-resolution ESI(+)-FT-ICR mass spectrometry, a direct identification of four main classes of metabolites of P. lentiscus hydrosol (i.e., terpenes, amino acids, peptides, and condensed heterocycles) was obtained. Remarkably, P. lentiscus hydrosol exhibited an anti-inflammatory activity by suppressing the secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α proinflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) activated primary human monocytes. In LPS-triggered U937 cells, it inhibited NF-κB, a key transcription factor in inflammatory cascade, regulating the expression of both the mitochondrial citrate carrier and the ATP citrate lyase genes. These two main components of the citrate pathway were downregulated by P. lentiscus hydrosol. Therefore, the levels of ROS, NO, and PGE₂, the inflammatory mediators downstream the citrate pathway, were reduced. Results shed light on metabolic profile and anti-inflammatory properties of P. lentiscus hydrosol, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic agent.

The overproduction of reactive oxygen species and the exposure of the human body to free radicals contribute to the aetiology of many chronic health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Supplementation with natural antioxidants could be helpful, preventing free-radical-induced tissue damage through the inhibition of the radicals’ formation. Quercetin derivatives have recently been shown to inhibit the production of inflammatory mediators and to reduce the proliferation of tumoral cells, thus being valid compounds to be promoted as dietary supplements. In this work, an HPLC-MS/MS investigation on the derivatives of quercetin in a methanolic extract of peppers deriving from an original crossing combination between Habanero white and Capsicum annuum revealed the occurrence of nine glycoconjugates, either monosaccharide, disaccharide or trisaccharide, as well as an acylated disaccharidic derivative (i.e., quercetin rhamnoside-(feruloyl-hexoside)). Due to the great variability in the quercetin derivatives’ profiles, the Habanero white hybrid pepper extract was subjected to in vitro cytotoxicity assays. The pepper extract under study was proved to have anti-inflammatory activity comparable to that shown by a Capsicum annuum pepper extract since it reduced ROS levels compared to activated cells. Due to its beneficial effects, it could be exploited as a natural constituent of nutraceutical formulations.