Ana Matias

• Researcher at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

11β,13-Dihydrolactucin, a sesquiterpene lactone found in chicory, presents promising anti-inflammatory potential in complementary in vitro and in vivo models of intestinal inflammation, acting at several levels of the cellular inflammatory response.

A dynamic compressed fluid-based separation process combining carbon dioxide and ethanol was explored to isolate portisins previously hemi-synthesized from blueberry surplus anthocyanins. The influence of process parameters such as pressure...

Dunaliella salina has been recognized as an excellent biomass source of carotenoid, which can be used as a natural orange coloring agent for food products. The most eco-friendly approach for extracting carotenoid is through supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, as it yields highly concentrated extracts while preventing pigment thermal degradatio...

Replacement of synthetic colorants with natural ones is a current marketing trend. Nevertheless, the naturally occurring blue color is rare compared to other colours. In this work, centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) process was developed as a more efficient and sustainable alternative to reversed phase column chromatography (RP-CC) for the...

Effective antimicrobial treatment has been identified as a serious and unmet medical need. Herein, we present a strategy based on deep eutectic systems (DES) to overcome current limitations, answering the need not only to effectively kill bacterial agents but also to avoid their adhesion and proliferation, which is associated with biofilm formation...

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NaDES) were used to extract bioactive compounds from marine by-products: codfish bones, mussel meat, and tuna vitreous humor. NaDES were prepared using natural compounds, including lactic acid (Lac), fructose (Fru), and urea (Ur), and were characterized to define their physicochemical properties, including the viscos...

The increasing demand for medical cannabis urges the development of new and effective methods for the extraction of phytocannabinoids. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are an alternative to the use of hazardous organic solvents typically used in the industry. In this study, hydrophilic and hydrophobic DESs were developed based on terpenes, sugars, and...

A green technique was developed to extract hyaluronic acid (HA) from tuna vitreous humor (TVH) for its potential application in managing dry eye disease. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) were used to extract HA and were synthesized using natural compounds (lactic acid, fructose, and urea). The DES, the soluble fraction of TVH in DES (SF), and the preci...

Anthocyanins are natural pigments displaying different attractive colors ranging from red, violet, to blue. These pigments present health benefits that increased their use in food, nutraceuticals, and the cosmetic industry. However, anthocyanins are mainly extracted through conventional methods that are time-consuming and involve the use of organic...

The versatility of chitin and its derivatives has allowed their utilization in a wide range of applications, from wastewater treatment to pharmaceutical or biomedical industries. However, even though the extraction method used industrially is extremely efficient, it involves the use of strong acids and bases and results in the disposal of large qua...

In recent years, a growing number of studies have demonstrated that protein hydrolysates have interesting functional properties and a strong antioxidant capacity, amongst other important bioactivities. In this work, the potential of subcritical water (ScW) to efficiently extract bioactive protein hydrolysates contained in brown crab shell residues...

Pressing strawberries for juice generates large amounts of pomace, containing valuable nutrients and therefore requiring more systematic studies for their valorization. This study compared conventional solid-liquid (SLE) and pressurized liquid (PLE) extractions with ethanol (EtOH) and H2O for the recovery of bioactive compounds from strawberry poma...

The beneficial health effects of Chlorella vulgaris have been associated with the presence of several nutrients and antioxidants, including carotenoids. However, the in vivo bioavailability of Chlorella is still poorly evaluated. In this work, a human intervention study was conducted in 11 healthy men to evaluate the bioavailability of carotenoids...

In addition to nutritional and functional properties, fish proteins have been consistently associated to different biological activities. In the work reported herein, the application of betaine/polyol-based deep eutectic systems (DES) was explored for the recovery of bioactive protein derivative-rich extracts contained in sardine processing waste s...

An increasing interest in food packaging materials without environmental impact and able to improve shelf life has emerged in the last decade. The aim of this work was to produce biodegradable films from agroforestry (pine stumps) and fishery (chitosan) residues with active compounds. N-carboxybutylchitosan (CBC) films were developed with the inclu...

Supercritical fluid extraction, employing CO2 as solvent, was explored to recover high-value lipophilic compounds from apple by-product, the main solid residue generated after apple fruit processing. The experimental conditions were fixed at pressures of 300, 425, and 550 MPa and temperatures of 37, 46, and 55 °C. The total yield from the extractio...

Cichorium intybus L. or chicory plants are a natural source of health-promoting compounds in the form of supplements such as inulin, as well as other bioactive compounds such as sesquiterpene lactones (SLs). After inulin extraction, chicory roots are considered waste, with most SLs not being harnessed. We developed and optimized a new strategy for...

The tailor-made versatility of deep eutectic systems (DES) has opened promising future perspectives for their applications in industry, to complement or even replace some of the already existing processes. Although there has been an active and considerable effort by the scientific community to characterize these systems, their toxicity towards diff...

The characterization of terpene-based eutectic solvent systems is performed to describe their solid–liquid phase transitions. Physical properties are measured experimentally and compared to computed correlations for deep eutectic solvents (DES) and the percentage relative error er for the density, surface tension, and refractive index is obtained....

Marine crustacean waste streams, in particular crab wastes, are promising alternative sources of astaxanthin (ASX), a highly demanded carotenoid with strong antioxidant capacity currently very used for nutraceutical and functional food formulations. However, the composition and rigid structure of crab exoskeleton constitute a critical bottleneck fo...

Therapeutic deep eutectic systems (THEDES) have dramatically expanded their popularity in the pharmaceutical field due to their ability to increase active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) bioavailability. However, their biological performance has not yet been carefully scrutinized. Herein, THEDES based on the binary mixture of perillyl alcohol (PO...

Cichorium intybus L. has recently gained major attention due to large quantities of health-promoting compounds in its roots, such as inulin and sesquiterpene lactones (SLs). Chicory is the main dietary source of SLs, which have underexplored bioactive potential. In this study, we assessed the capacity of SLs to permeate the intestinal barrier to be...

In this work supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2) extraction was explored to recover bioactive lipids from canned sardine residues, with special focus on triglycerides. Aiming at enhancing the recovery of the target molecules, different extraction conditions were applied, including operating pressure (300–650 bar), temperature (35–80 °C) and CO2 f...

Defatted by supercritical CO2, Viburnum opulus berry pomace (VOP) was subjected to consecutive extraction with pressurized ethanol (E) and water (W) and yielded 23% of VOP-E and 8% of VOP-W, respectively. The major phytochemical groups covering 42 identified and quantified constituents in VOP extracts were organic and phenolic acids, iridoids, quer...

This study demonstrates the potential of a high molecular weight fucose-containing polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Enterobacter A47, named FucoPol, and its silver nanocomposite as potential bioactive materials for wound dressings applications. A green, simple, light-assisted method was used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNP)...

This work reports the synthesis of kappa-carrageenan aerogels using different dissolution and crosslinking media in order to evaluate its effects on the textural properties of the matrixes and further on the drug loading and release performance. The different aerogel samples were produced through the dissolution of the biopolymer in water with addi...

The valorization of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) waste (SW) from a canning facility has been investigated within a biorefining approach. Sequential fractionation of SW into its constituents has been carried out using green solvents such as supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) and subcritical water (sCW). The lipid fraction has been isolated through...

Hyaluronic acid (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) are valuable bioactive polysaccharides that have been highly used in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Extensive research was done to ensure their efficient extraction from marine and terrestrial by-products at a high yield and purity, using specific techniques to isolate and purify them....

The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) is an evergreen plant belonging to the Ericaceae family, an endemic specie of the Mediterranean. In Portugal it grows mostly wild and its fruits are mainly used to produce a distillated alcoholic beverage called “Aguardente de Medronho”. From the process, a residue is obtained which is normally discarded, despite...

Aerogels produced from marine polymers, such as chitosan and alginate, are of interest for wound healing applications due to their attractive properties. These properties can be the aerogel's high porosity along with the antimicrobial activity of chitosan or the capacity to provide a moist environment of alginate. The aim of this work was to develo...

This study aimed at valorisation of sea buckthorn pomace (SBP) for the production of extracts containing valuable bioactive compounds. For this purpose, SBP defatted by supercritical CO2 was subjected to consecutive fractionation with pressurized ethanol and water, which yielded 11.9% and 4.8% of extracts, respectively. The extracts were evaluated...

Arbutus unedo L., commonly known as the strawberry-tree fruit, is an endemic species of the Mediterranean flora. Microwave extraction technology has been considered as a fast and “green” method for the production of extracts rich in bioactive compounds, although the energy consumption is high. To overcome this bottleneck, microwave was used as a pr...

Therapeutic deep eutectic systems (THEDES) emerged as alternative therapeutic agents that can enhance the bioavailability of the currently used active pharmaceutical ingredients. The use of THEDES in combination with supercritical CO2 has started to be explored to formulate drug delivery systems through green technology. This work aimed to develop...

Deep eutectic systems (DES) have received considerable attention in the past 5 years of research. Up to 2013 little had been explored over these systems both in which concerns fundamentals and applications. The definition of a deep eutectic system is still controversial and in this manuscript we highlight the different definitions proposed in the l...

Deep eutectic solvents have been recently reported as an interesting alternative to improve the therapeutic efficacy of conventional drugs, hence called therapeutic deep eutectic solvents (THEDES). The main objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of limonene (LIM) based THEDES as new possible systems for cancer treatment. LIM is known...

Phenolics present in grapes have been explored as cosmeceutical principles, due to their antioxidant activity and ability to inhibit enzymes relevant for skin ageing. The winemaking process generates large amounts of waste, and the recovery of bioactive compounds from residues and their further incorporation in cosmetics represents a promising mark...

The breakthroughs achieved in green solvents promote the emergence of therapeutic deep eutectic solvents (THEDES), which possesses intriguing possible applications in the biomedical field. Herein, the main aim was to unravel the biomedical potential of hydrophobic THEDES based in menthol and saturated fatty acids with different chain length (e.g.,...

The work reports the impregnation of naproxen into locust bean gum mesoporous matrixes with different textural properties. The matrixes were prepared through the dissolution of the biopolymer in water and in two ionic liquids (ILs): [bmim][Cl] and [C2OHmim][Cl] and dried with scCO2. The poor water-soluble pharmaceutical drug naproxen was loaded int...

Paeonia officinalis extracts from leaves and roots were tested for their antioxidant potential using in vitro chemical (Folin-Ciocalteu, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), hydroxyl radical antioxidant capacity (HORAC), hydroxyl radica...

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 (e...

The green and versatile character of deep eutectic solvents (DES) has turned them into significant tools in the development of green and sustainable technologies. For this purpose, their use in polymeric applications has been growing and expanding to new areas of development. The present review aims to summarize the progress in the field of DES app...

Arbutus unedo fruits, commonly known as strawberry-tree fruits, can be used as raw material for the development of bioactive ingredients, besides other traditional applications. In this work, a high-pressure CO2 Assisted Extraction process (HPCDAE) was investigated in order to find the best process conditions to obtain extracts with a higher phenol...

The use of fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs) as novel materials in biological and pharmaceutical applications is an emerging research field. The knowledge of their cytotoxicity and that of 1-octanol/water partition coefficients are essential to assess their environmental risks, to estimate their toxicity and activity, or the hydrophilic/lipophilic b...

Wine lees are rich in anthocyanins (AC), natural colorants with health promoting properties. The extraction kinetics of AC from different wine lees in conventional solid–liquid extraction were studied for the first time. The influence of parameters such as temperature, solid–liquid ratio (RS-L) and type of solvent (hydro-alcoholic mixtures) was als...

Deep eutectic systems (DES) have received considerable attention in the past 5 years of research. Up to 2013 little had been explored over these systems both in which concerns fundamentals and applications. The definition of a deep eutectic system is still controversial and in this manuscript we highlight the different definitions proposed in the l...

Six Nepeta spp. (N. cataria, N. racemosa, N. sibirica, N. nuda, N. melissifolia, and N. grandiflora) were evaluated for their bioactivities and phytochemical composition. The herbs were extracted with acetone, methanol and water; and the antioxidant capacity was determined using several in vitro assays. The content of total phenolics in the extract...

Aging wine lees are water-wastes produced during the wine aging inside wood barrels that can be considered as alternative sources of bioactive compounds. Phenolic characterization and antioxidant activity (AA) measurements of wines lees solid-liquid extracts have been undertaken on a dry extract (DE) basis. Solvents with different polarities (water...

Microwave assisted extraction advantages are widely recognised. However, its implementation at industrial scale is restricted due to microwave limitations. In this work, a microwave pretreatment is proposed as an easy scale-up alternative for grape pomace polyphenol extraction, especially for anthocyanins. The double effect of this pretreatment on...

Quercetin is an antioxidant compound with highly promising pharmacological properties against a wide variety of diseases. A major limitation for the clinical application of quercetin is its low bioavailability, due to its low solubility in water. In this work, quercetin is microencapsulated in a surfactant material with the objective of increasing...

The efficiency of maltodextrin, whey protein isolate, and pea protein isolate to formulate a polyphenol-enriched grape marc extract by spray drying has been compared. Different inlet (120–140 °C ) and outlet (81–89 °C ) temperatures have been evaluated, as well as the amount of carrier expressed as carrier/extract ratio (0.1:1–1:1). The particles o...

Supercritical fluid extraction using dense CO2 as solvent was explored to extract tocopherols and volatile compounds from rose hip and yarrow powder mixtures.

During the development of intranasal drug delivery systems for local/systemic effect or brain targeting, it is necessary to assess its cytotoxicity and drug transport through nasal epithelium. In order to avoid animal experiments or the use of excised tissues, in vitro cell models, such as RPMI 2650 cells, are being preferred during recent years. N...

The enormous quantity of food wastes discarded annually forces a look into alternatives for this interesting feedstock. Thus, food bio-waste valorisation is one of the current imperatives of society. This review is the most comprehensive overview of currently existing technologies and processes in this field. It tackles classical and innovative phy...

Development of effective green strategies and processes for the selective recovery of bioactive from winemaking waste streams.

Develop a clean methodology for extraction and fractionation of valuable anticancer ingredients from watercress and broccoli surpluses, namely isothiocyanates, using supercritical fluid technology.

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the catechin with higher antioxidant activity present in green tea. Nevertheless, due its low bioavailability, it is necessary the development of EGCG formulations capable of improving its stability resulting in increased bioavailability and thus higher biological activity of this catechin (e.g. antioxidant activi...

The application of biopolymer aerogels as drug delivery systems (DDS) has gained increased interest during the last decade since these structures have large surface area and accessible pores allowing for high drug loadings. Being biocompatible, biodegradable and presenting low toxicity, polysaccharide-based aerogels are an attractive carrier to be...

Alginate-based hybrid aerogels in the form of microparticles were investigated in this work as carriers for mucosal administration of drugs. Low methoxyl pectin and κ-carrageenan were gelled with alginate and further dried with supercritical CO2. Hybrid aerogel microparticles were loaded with ketoprofen via adsorption from its solution in supercrit...

Oxidative stress is one of the key phenomena behind the most common types of chronic diseases. Therefore, the modulation of oxidative stress is an interesting target for acting either through prevention or as a therapeutic approach. In this work, a Portuguese variety of cherry (Saco Cherry) was processed in order to obtain a potent in vitro antioxi...

In this work, pressurized fluid extraction was explored to recover isothiocyanates (ITCs) and phenolic compounds from watercress. Pretreatment of the raw material was studied, using different conditions of temperature (25oC; 35oC), pressure (Patm; 25 MPa), incubation time (0; 30; 60; 120 min) and moisture content (125; 250; 900% of water, dry basis...

Grape marc polyphenols encapsulation in natural origin carriers by high pressure and supercritical fluid techniques

Development of newly alginate-chitosan aerogel fibers for wound healing application

Green tea is an excellent source of health-promoting polyphenols, such as catechins, being epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) the most potent and abundant catechin present [1]. Its antioxidant activity is at least 100 fold higher than vitamin C, thus its highly effective as antimicrobial, antiviral, antidiabetic or anticarcinogenic agent [2]. Due to i...

Structured lipid carriers based on mixture of solid lipids with liquid lipids are the second generation of solid lipid particles, offering the advantage of improved drug loading capacity and higher storage stability. In this study, structured lipid carriers were successfully prepared for the first time by precipitation from gas saturated solutions....

In winery production an enormous quantity of residues are generated. The wastes produced in winery are rich in phenolic compounds and high added value products can be obtained from them. Chiefly, these residues consist on grape stalks, grape pomace and wine lees. The latter are produced during wine aging and maturation in the second fermentation [1...

Herein we compare the fluorimetric determination of total and specific carboxylesterase activity in immortalized human derived living cells and in cell lysates. The cell lines chosen are representative of metabolism occurring in the intestine (Caco-2 and HT-29), kidney (HEK-293T) and liver (Hep G2). Caco-2 and HT-29, as cells prone to differentiati...

Hybrid lipid–polymer particles are gaining increasing interest to be applied as drug delivery systems due to their greater stability in biological fluids and enhanced cellular uptake of drugs. However, a major drawback is the fact that these particles are usually produced through techniques that use organic solvents. This work studies the possibili...

In this work, Opuntia ficus indica juice was explored as potential source of natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients towards intestinal inflammation. An adsorption separation process was used to produce a natural flavonoid-rich concentrate (FRC) from Opuntia ficus-indica juice. The FRC effect (co- or pre-incubation) on induced-oxidati...

Novel ionic liquids (ILs) containing cholinium as a benign cation combined with anions based on five active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), namely, nalidixic acid, niflumic acid, 4-amino-salicylic acid, pyrazinoic acid and picolinic acid, were prepared via a simple and sustainable two-step anion exchange reaction. The solubility of the prepared...

Recovery of phenethyl isothiocyanate from watercress residues and surplus using Supercritical Fluid Extraction, as an alternative to conventional harmful solvents extraction

Application of HPE technology, for the isolation and fractionation of promising anticancer compounds, namely polyphenols, terpenes, isothiocyanates and glucosinolates, from several natural sources.

Development of adequate clean and mild methodologies by applying HPE technology, for the isolation or fractionation of promising anticancer compounds, namely polyphenols, terpenes, isothiocyanates and glucosinolates, from several natural sources.