Part of the book: Quality Control of Herbal Medicines and Related Areas
Part of the book: Bioactive Compounds in Phytomedicine
Part of the book: Bioactive Compounds in Phytomedicine
In this work, the seeds of açaí (Euterpe oleracea, Mart), a rich lignin-cellulose residue, has been submitted to pyrolysis to produce a bio-oil-like fossil fuels. The pyrolysis carried out in a reactor of 143 L, 450°C, and 1.0 atm. The morphology of Açaí seeds in nature and after pyrolysis is characterized by SEM, EDX, and XRD. The experiments show that bio-oil, gas, and coke yields were 4.38, 30.56, and 35.67% (wt.), respectively. The bio-oil characterized by AOCS, ASTM, and ABNT/NBR methods for density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value. The bio-oil density, viscosity, and acid value were 1.0468 g/cm3, 68.34 mm2/s, and 70.26 KOH/g, respectively. The chemical composition and chemical functions of bio-oil are determined by GC-MS and FT-IR. The GC-MS identified in bio-oil 21.52% (wt.) hydrocarbons and 78.48% (wt.) oxygenates (4.06% esters, 8.52% carboxylic acids, 3.53% ketones, 35.16% phenols, 20.52% cresols, 5.75% furans, and 0.91% (wt.) aldehydes), making it possible to apply fractional distillation to obtain fossil fuel-like fractions rich in hydrocarbons. The distillation of bio-oil is carried out in a laboratory-scale column, according to the boiling temperature of fossil fuels. The distillation of bio-oil yielded fossil fuel-like fractions (gasoline, kerosene, and light diesel) of 4.70, 28.21, and 22.35% (wt.), respectively.
Part of the book: Fractionation
Fruit processing contributes significantly to the agricultural exportation of the Amazonian; however, it generates large amounts of solid waste, despite its high content of bioactive compounds and nutritional properties, and they are discarded in the environment. Therefore, in order to add economic value and potential reuse of agro-industrial by-products from cocoa, cupuassu, pracaxi, and tucumã, we investigated the chemical characteristics of the seed by-product resulting from the industrial extraction of these oils. The investigation of the nutritional and chemical composition of by-product was submitted to green extraction, besides other qualitative and quantitative techniques for the characterization of the main bioactive compounds. The extracts obtained from these by-products had a significant total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. HPLC analysis identified and quantified some flavonoids present in these by-products (gallic, caffeic and protocatechuic acid, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, epicatechin, catechin, and quercetin). The oil from these species is widely used in the treatment of skin scarring and inflammation and is also used by the cosmetic industry. These results show that these by-products have a great potential for use, since they still have bioactive substances in their composition, which could alternatively be used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, or food industries.
Part of the book: Bioactive Compounds in Nutraceutical and Functional Food for Good Human Health