Abstract
This study aimed to characterise pressurised hot water (PHW) extracts from nonconventional sources of functional carbohydrates and phenolic compounds in terms of antioxidant capacity, antiviral activity, toxicity, and human erythrocytes’ protection antidiabetic potential. PHW extracts of Norway spruce bark (E1 + E2) and Birch sawdust (E3 + E4) contained mostly galactoglucomannan and glucuronoxylan. In contrast, samples E5 to E9 PHW extracted from Norway spruce, and Scots pine bark are rich sources of phenolic compounds. Overall, phenolic-rich extracts presented the highest inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase and protection against stable non-enveloped enteroviruses. Additionally, all extracts protected human erythrocytes from hemolysis. Cell-based experiments using human cell lines (IMR90 and A549) showed extracts’ non-toxicin vitroprofile. Considering the relative toxicological safety of extracts from these unconventional sources, functional carbohydrates and polyphenol-rich extracts can be obtained and further used in food models.
Highlights
The pharmaceutical and chemical industries look for new natural materials for high value-added applications, such as drugs and cosmetics (Ragab et al, 2018)
Phenolic acids, and some flavonoids have already been found from spruce and pine species
Different extracts from Norway spruce birch sawdust and Scots pine bark were analysed for their bioactive potential
Summary
The pharmaceutical and chemical industries look for new natural materials for high value-added applications, such as drugs and cosmetics (Ragab et al, 2018). Forests are essential sources of renewable materials Forest industries such as pulp mills and sawmills provide pulp and timber used, e.g., in packages and construction. The cascading approach would first extract valuable compounds from either bark or sawdust, utilise extracted biomass in different applications, and combust or gasify the remaining matter to energy (Rasi et al, 2019). In this aspect, pressurised hot water extraction (PHWE), which uses non-toxic water and is considered a green extraction method (Teo et al, 2010), can extract compounds from woody materials.
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