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.

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.

L-dopa is a precursor of dopamine used as the most effective symptomatic drug treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Most of the L-dopa isolated is either synthesized chemically or from natural sources, but only some plants belonging to the Fabaceae family contain significant amounts of L-dopa. Due to its low stability, the unambiguous determination of L-dopa in plant matrices requires appropriate technologies. Several analytical methods have been developed for the determination of L-dopa in different plants. The most used for quantification of L-dopa are mainly based on capillary electrophoresis or chromatographic methods, i.e., high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), coupled to ultraviolet-visible or mass spectrometric detection. HPLC is most often used. This paper aims to give information on the latest developments in the chemical study of L-dopa, emphasizing the extraction, separation and characterization of this compound by chromatographic, electrochemical and spectral techniques. This study can help select the best possible strategy for determining L-dopa in plant matrices using advanced analytical methods.

Reinforced films were fabricated by impregnating paper in ethyl cellulose solutions. After solvent evaporation, the infused ethyl cellulose acted as binder of the paper microfibres and occupied the pores and cavities, thus improving the mechanical and barrier properties. To prepare active films, avocado by-products from guacamole industrial production were extracted in ethyl acetate. Then, the extract (optimized to be rich in phenolic compounds and flavonoids and mainly composed by lipids) was incorporated to the paper reinforced with the highest content of ethyl cellulose. In general, the addition of the avocado by-products extract decreased the water uptake and permeability, improved the wettability, and increased the biodegradability in seawater and the antioxidant capacity. In addition, these films acted as barriers and retainers for Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus. The potentiality of these materials for food packaging was demonstrated by low overall migrations and a similar food preservation to common low-density polyethylene.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in identifying both the macro- and micro-constituents of milk, as their functional and health benefits have been recognized. This review provides a comprehensive overview of all milk constituents, including fats, proteins, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, vitamins, minerals and polyphenols, along with their extraction protocols and the analytical methods employed for their separation and detection over the last ten years. The principles, strengths and limitations of these methods are discussed, highlighting their importance in advancing milk research. Traditional methods such as spectrophotometry, and advanced technologies, like mass spectrometry and omics approaches, are described to collectively enable a comprehensive understanding of milk’s nutritional and functional components. Election criteria for the analytical platforms suitable for target analytes are provided.