The valorization of food wastes is a challenging opportunity for a green, sustainable, and competitive development of industry. Approximately 30 million m³ of olive mill wastewater (OMWW) are produced annually in the world as a by-product of the olive oil extraction process. In addition to being a serious environmental and economic issue because of their polluting load, OMWW can also represent a precious resource of high-added-value molecules such as polyphenols that show acclaimed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and can find useful applications in the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, the possibility to develop novel nutraceutical ophthalmic formulations containing free radical scavengers would represent an important therapeutic opportunity for all inflammatory diseases of the ocular surface. In this work, different adsorbents were tested to selectively recover a fraction that is rich in polyphenols from OMWW. Afterward, cytotoxicity and antioxidant/anti-inflammatory activities of polyphenolic fraction were evaluated through in vitro tests. Our results showed that the fraction (0.01%) had no toxic effects and was able to protect cells against oxidant and inflammatory stimulus, reducing reactive oxygen species and TNF-α levels. Finally, a novel stable ophthalmic hydrogel containing a polyphenolic fraction (0.01%) was formulated and the technical and economic feasibility of the process at a pre-industrial level was investigated.

The use of iodine as antiseptic poses some issues related to its low water solubility and high volatility. Stable solid iodine-containing formulations are highly advisable and currently limited to the povidone-iodine complex. In this study, complexes of molecular iodine with 2-hydroxypropyl α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrins were considered water-soluble iodophors and prepared in a solid state by using three different methods (liquid-assisted grinding, co-evaporation and sealed heating). The obtained solids were evaluated for their iodine content and stability over time in different conditions using a fully validated UV method. The assessment of the actual formation of an inclusion complex in a solid state was carried out by thermal analysis, and the presence of iodine was further confirmed by SEM/EDX and XPS analyses. High levels of iodine content (8.3–10.8%) were obtained with all the tested cyclodextrins, and some influence was exerted by the employed preparation method. Potential use as solid iodophors can be envisaged for these iodine complexes, among which those with 2-hydroxypropyl-α-cyclodextrin were found the most stable, regardless of the preparation technique. The three prepared cyclodextrin–iodine complexes proved effective as bactericides against S. epidermidis.

Nepafenac is an anti-inflammatory drug used in ophthalmology, marketed as a suspension due to its low aqueous solubility. A solution formulation could provide better bioavailability than suspension and facilitate single unit doses, avoiding the use of preservatives which are required to maintain sterility in multidose packaging. In this study, solubilization of nepafenac was achieved in the presence of randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin (RAMEB) and the actual complexation was assessed by NMR and phase-solubility studies. It was also found that the addition of hydrophilic polymers plays an important role in allowing increased solubilization of nepafenac at the same cyclodextrin concentration. Compared to complexes of nepafenac with other cyclodextrins, only 5% RAMEB was sufficient to solubilize 0.3% (w/v) nepafenac, enabling for the first time the development of an ophthalmic solution that proved chemically and physically stable for 12 months at 25 °C. The formulated solutions of nepafenac were tested for cytotoxicity on human corneal epithelial cells (HCE-2) and the results suggest their potential as a valuable and safe alternative to the commercially available 0.3% (w/v) suspension of the drug.