Cytotoxicity and biological capacity of sulfur-free lignins obtained in novel biorefining process

Abstract

Lignin is one of the most promising and versatile products obtained in biorefineries due to its diverse therapeutic properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. However, these properties depend on the source of lignin and the way it was isolated from the biomass. In this study, four different lignins are compared (extracted with Aquasolv (ASL1, ASL2), Organosolv (OSL) and Alkali (ALK) processes) for their cellular antioxidant capacity, anti-diabetic activity, free radical scavenging and cytotoxicity. Alkali and Organosolv lignins showed the highest antioxidant capacity 1159.815 μmol TE g−1 and 1463.415 μmol TE g−1, respectively, in agreement with their highest amount of free –OH groups. Additionally, OSL showed the highest inhibition in the antidiabetic assay followed by ASL1 with values for α–amylase of 3.6 mg/ml and 4.3 mg/ml respectively, and α–glucosidase 1.6 mg/ml and 2.5 mg/ml correspondingly. Nevertheless, cell-based assays revealed that ASL has the lowest cytotoxic effect in Caco-2 cells and, thus, is 10 times less cytotoxic than Alkali and OSL. This work suggests the applicability of ASL for high value applications such as cosmetics or pharmaceuticals. Industrial relevanceIndustrially, Liquid Hot Water (LHW) and Organosolv processes may appear as promising biorefining technologies in the following years. Lignin produced is free of sulfur, can be labelled as clean and environmentally-friendly and in this study, was proven that LHW lignin is non cytotoxic. The findings in this paper showed that different sources of lignin can be used in product formulation for life science purposes, thus opening a broad spectrum of possibilities for lignin valorisation in biorefineries.