Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum) leaves contain several bioactive compounds that can be extracted and used to develop new value-added products (e.g., functional foods and dietary supplements). In the current work, optimal ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) conditions to obtain extracts with high polyphenols content and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil) scavenging activity were identified using response surface methodology. A complete 3^k factorial design was used to evaluate the effect of different variables of the UAE (extraction temperature, time, and ethanol concentration) on the polyphenols content and the DPPH scavenging activity of the extracts. The best conditions for UAE to reach both the highest values of total polyphenols content (51.78 mg GAE/100 g) and DPPH scavenging activity (34.07 mg Trolox equivalents/100 g) were an extraction temperature of 60 °C, time of 10 min, and ethanol concentration of 70% v/v. The antioxidant activity of the extracts obtained at the optimal conditions was also evaluated by 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays obtaining values of 155.51 ± 2.80 μM Trolox/100 g and 1300.21 ± 65.55 μM Trolox/100 g, respectively. Moreover, these extracts were characterized by UHPLC-ESI+-Orbitrap-MS analysis finding that cyanidin (6.0 mg/kg) was the phenolic compound found in the highest amount followed by quercetin-3-glucoside (4.4 mg/kg).

Background: Brewer´s spent grain (BSG) is a biomass by-product generated in large volumes during industrial beer production. BSG has become a growing environmental problem, as most breweries discard it inappropriately, negatively impacting the environment. Alternatives for the exploitation of this by-product have consisted of elaborating food supplements for farm animals, obtaining biofuels, developing adsorbents, and obtaining substances for the food industry. However, the high moisture content in BSG (approximately 70%), poses a significant challenge in exploring various reuse alternatives. Therefore, the implementation of a pre-drying process becomes essential. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the BSG drying kinetics at different temperatures and the effect of the drying temperature on the physical properties and the content of bioactive compounds. Methods: BSG samples were dried at different temperatures (50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 105°C) and analyzed for their moisture ratio, water activity, total polyphenol content (TPC), and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil) radical scavenging activity. Also, four kinetics models were fitted to the drying data. Results: It was determined that the effective diffusivity was between 5.23x10-10 (m2/s) and 2.49x10-09 (m2/s), and the value of the activation energy was 28.05 kJ/mol. In addition, it was found that the content of phenolic compounds (1.27±0.120 mg gallic acid equivalents /g) and the DPPH radical scavenging activity (0.21±0.015 mg gallic acid equivalents /g) were not significantly affected by the variation in the drying temperatures studied. Conclusions: From an operational point of view, the most suitable temperature for the drying process of BSG was 105°C since it would allow to reach shorter drying times, and the TPC was not affected markedly by the range of temperature studied.

Una desventaja del uso de biodiésel es su precio, debido a los altos costos de la materia prima y al acondicionamiento del aceite requerido para obtenerlo por medio de una transesterificación tradicional, lo que le impide alcanzar precios más accesibles y dificulta su competitividad con el diésel de petróleo. Por esta razón, se investigó una alternativa para la obtención de biodiésel mediante transesterificación in situ o extracción reactiva (ER) a partir de semillas de Jatropha curcas L. Con esta alternativa en auge, que no compite con el mercado alimenticio, se busca reducir etapas en el proceso de producción y así disminuir costos de operación respecto al método y aceites convencionales. Se determinó la influencia de la temperatura, concentración másica de catalizador (g NaOH/g aceite) y relación molar metanol:aceite, con el fin de maximizar el rendimiento y la concentración de FAME del biodiésel obtenido, mediante un diseño experimental central compuesto (DCC) con método de superficie de respuesta. Se encontró que las condiciones más apropiadas para la obtención de biodiésel por transesterificación in situ fueron una temperatura de reacción de 44 °C, con una concentración másica de catalizador respecto al aceite de 1,2 g NaOH/100 g aceite y una relación molar metanol:aceite de 135:1, con presencia de hexano, manteniendo constantes la velocidad de agitación (635 rpm) y el tiempo de reacción (3 h). En estas condiciones, se alcanza un rendimiento de 71,99 % p/p (g biodiésel/g aceite) y un contenido de FAME del 90,36 % p/p (g FAME/g biodiésel). Los resultados de este estudio establecen las bases para una alternativa al proceso tradicional que no necesita las etapas de extracción y pretratamiento de los aceites utilizados como materia prima, además de disminuir los lavados necesarios en el proceso convencional, que incrementan los costos de dicho proceso industrial e impactan en el medioambiente.