Filomena Monica VellaItalian National Research Council | CNR · Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR)
Filomena Monica Vella
PhD
About
54
Publications
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Introduction
Filomena Monica Vella currently works at the Institute of Institute of Bioresources and Biosciences (IBBR), Italian National Research Council (CNR). Filomena does research in Physiology, Microbiology, Food Science and Biotechnology. Their current project is 'Valorization of agro-industrial residues by bioactive molecules extraction and bioenergy production.'
Additional affiliations
September 2018 - present
Italian National Research Council
Position
- PostDoc Position
June 2014 - September 2018
June 2013 - June 2014
Publications
Publications (54)
Foods and beverages are nutrient-rich systems prone to a rapid development of microorganisms that hamper their long-period storage. Particularly, yeasts are strong fermenters of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables; hence, they are often accountable for their spoilage and production of off-flavor. This work provides a quick and easy tool to re...
Dear Colleagues,
fruits and vegetables play a crucial part in our diet and life; the demand for them has increased significantly recently as a result of the growing world population and changing dietary habits. Fruits and vegetables are consumed raw and at times are minimally processed or heavily processed, generating large quantities (from 25% to...
Nowadays, the sustainability of food processing is a major concern coupled with the reduction of waste generation. Fruit and vegetable processing require modernization to valorize wastes and by-products highly generated, particularly because they are still rich in natural compounds that demanded human health. Melon (Cucumis melo L.) processing gene...
The biochemical changes that occur during the growth and ripening of fruit and vegetable tissues, especially for color and firmness, are the most important factors affecting the quality of fresh products. Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo, L.) is one of the main economically important fruits in the world and its quality parameters, e.g., sweetness, nutritio...
Aromatic plants have been used since antiquity as great potential source of therapeutics in folk medicine, and as preservatives in foods, because they contain many biologically active compounds. Among all, the essential oils (EOs) are an important group of secondary metabolites that, even if not essential for plant survival, are significant for the...
Dear colleagues,
Horticultural crops are dispersed across the world, from cool temperate to tropical latitudes and over a wide range of elevations and climatic conditions. Among horticultural crops, fruit and vegetables are considered the most important sources of nutrients and health-promoting compounds with proven beneficial qualities. However,...
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) belongs to Asteraceae family and is a widely grown and a popularly consumed vegetable worldwide cause leafy vegetables are common items in a well-balanced diet. Lettuce is low in calories, fat and sodium. It is a good source of fiber, iron, folate, vitamin C and various bioactive compounds. Lettuce is consumed in salad m...
Citrus x myrtifolia (Rafinesque) fruits are commonly used to produce the popular Italian beverage 'Chinotto'. The C. myrtifolia plant comes from Asia, as most of Citrus spp., but nowadays is spread in Mediterranean countries and in Italy, mostly Liguria and Sicily. The fresh juice obtained by squeezing ripe fruits of Chinotto has been investigated...
Essential oils (EOs) obtained from aromatic plants are widely used worldwide, especially in cosmetic and food products due to their aroma and biological properties and health benefits. Some EOs have significant antimicrobial and antioxidant activities, and thus could effectively increase the shelf lives of foodstuff and beverages. In this study, fo...
Il castagno (Castanea sativa Mill.) è una coltura tipica delle foreste italiane, con oltre la metà della produzione dalla Campania, regione particolarmente ricca di biodiversità castanicola attraverso numerose varietà locali. Fin dall'antichità gli estratti del castagno (frutti, ricci, foglie ecc.) sono stati usati nella medicina tradizionale. Più...
Chestnut is a very promising forest species that may be used as biomass to recover high value-added biomolecules. Four cultivars coming from the Italian Park “Roccamonfina-Foce Garigliano” were characterized at biochemical level by phenolic chromatographic profiling and by means of antioxidant activity. The phenolic compounds were extracted from le...
Chestnut is a very promising forest species that may be used as biomass to recover high value-added biomolecules. Four cultivars coming from the Italian Park “Roccamonfina-Foce Garigliano” were characterized at biochemical level by phenolic chromatographic profiling and by means of antioxidant activity. The phenolic compounds were extracted from le...
Experimental and epidemiological studies show a positive relation between consumption of citrus juices and reduction of risk for some chronic disorders, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. In particular, the bergamot juice is characterized by noticeable amounts of phytochemicals such as flavanone glycosides, limonoids, and quaternary ammo...
Fourteen commercial essential oils were screened for their different chemical profiles by GC-MS analysis. The successive multivariate analysis, PCA, generated six groups showing distinct chemotype.
Diatoms are a promising source of renewable biomass for production of energy and functional ingredients and food products. The eurythermal diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii shows great resistance and robustness, and can be considered a suitable candidate for outdoor cultivation. In this study we investigated the resilience of one strain of this spec...
‘Bouche de Bétizac’ is a Euro-Japanese chestnut hybrid (Castanea sativa × C. crenata) and, even if it is pollen sterile, it is consistently a high yield cultivar producing big nuts. It is well-adapted to growth in Europe, North America and Asia where it was demonstrated to survive in cold season conditions. Many extracts from different chestnut tis...
Biochemical profiling of local chestnuts from Campania Region
The Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.), which includes several crops of great economic importance worldwide, belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, and it is well recognized for culinary and medicinal purposes. The high fruit consumption produces a large quantity of waste materials, such as peels and seeds that are still rich in molecules like polyphenols,...
Fennel crop has been traditionally used as spice in cooking and fragrances, and in folk medicine for its spectrum of useful properties. Mediterranean is the elective natural cultivation area for this plant with Italy being a leader producer. A limit of this production is due to the high amount of wastes derived still rich of phytochemicals, which a...
The underutilised forest and industrial biomass of Castanea sativa (Mill.) is generally discarded during post-harvest and food processing, with high impact on environmental quality. The searching on alternative sources of natural antioxidants from low-cost supplies, by methods involving environment-friendly techniques, has become a major goal of nu...
This study provided a reliable way to identify and estimate the ergosterol in farm environments, since it is renowned that is a specific indicator for the occurrence of molds and yeasts. The quickly valuation of exposure to airborne microorganisms is essential to assess the risk to which the health of employees are subjected in working places chara...
Common fig (Ficus carica L.), widespread in many regions of Southern Italy, occurs with a high number of local cultivars, many of them not well catalogued due to unresolved synonymy and homonymy issues. In particular, fig 'Moscione di San Mango' is a traditional agro-food product of Irpinia (Avellino province, Italy) for which the DOP certification...
Cantaloupe melon (Cucumis melo L.) belongs to Cucurbitaceae, a family that includes several cultivated species of great economic importance. This fruit is one of the most consumed crops worldwide due to its sweetness, juicy taste, pleasing flavor, and it is known for nutritive and medicinal properties of pulp. During fruit consumption and industria...
Appropriate traceability of agro-food products is essential to successfully certificate food quality and effectively safeguard the consumer by frauds. Nowadays, the relatively recent progresses of molecular profiling techniques allow discrimination of apparently similar plant varieties and/or their derived products. However, these molecular analyse...
Biochemical characterization of leaves, burs and shells of Bouche de Betizac chestnut cultivar
Superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) has been implicated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS) through accumulation of protein amyloid aggregates in motor neurons of patients. Amyloid aggregates and protein inclusions are a common pathological feature of many neurological disorders in which protein aggregation seems to be directly related to...
The effect of untreated olive mill wastewater (OMW) spreading on chemical and biological soil properties of two different fields located in Campania (Italy) was investigated. Fields were irrigated since 2003 with quantities of about 30 m3 ha−1 year−1, a volume lower than the maximum limit of 80 m3 ha−1 year−1 established by Italian law. Results sho...
Fig (Ficus carica L.) is a typical and strategic crop of many marginal rural areas in the Mediterranean basin, where it has originated. This species, widespread in many regions of Southern Italy, occurs with a high number of local varieties many of them are not well catalogued, due to unresolved synonymy and homonymy issues. In particular, “Moscion...
Valorization of chestnut manufacture process residues
Diatoms are an ecologically relevant group of microalgae that are not commonly considered for bio-oil production even if they are responsible for massive blooms at sea. Seventeen diatom species were screened for their capacity to produce biomass and lipids, in relation to their growth rate. Triglyceride levels were also assessed as a preferential s...
Recovery of bioactive compounds for valorization of chestnut (Castanea sativa) components
Planktic diatoms are the largest primary producers in marine and freshwater habitats. Their dry biomass accumulates up to 50% of lipids and contains water-soluble β-1,3-glucans as major storage products. Because of the world-wide abundance of these photosynthetic protists, β-1,3-glucans may rival cellulose as the polysaccharide with the highest ann...
Le diatomee sono eucarioti unicellulari fotosintetici provvisti di una teca esterna di materiale siliceo. Questi protisti, erroneamente assimilati alle microalghe verdi, sono responsabili di improvvise e massive crescite, note come bloom, negli oceani e nei mari del pianeta. Il fenomeno, che rappresenta uno dei principali meccanismi attraverso cui...
A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (negative ion-electrospray ionization) methodology to determine sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and sphinganine 1-phosphate (DH-S1P) in biological samples is described. The method has been validated over the linearity range of 2-100ng/ml (r>0.999) using synthetic C(17)-sphingosine...
Isolation and characterization of new thermophilic anaerobic hydrogen-producing bacteria
Main metabolic pathways involved in the hydrogen production in the marine thermophilic bacterium Thermotoga neapolitana
The effect of the surface charge of hydrogel supports on thermophilic biohydrogen production
Anaerobic growth of Thermotoga neapolitana led maximum to hydrogen yield of 3.85 ± 0.07 mol H2/mol glucose and production rate of 51 ml/l/h. This productivity is strongly affected by stirring, pH buffering, N2 sparging and culture/headspace volume ratio. Embden–Meyerhoff pathway is the only glycolytic route in T. neapolitana but, under the conditio...
The effect of the surface charge of different immobilizing hydrogels on biohydrogen production in batch cultures was investigated using a novel isolate associated to the genus Thermoanaerobacterium. Two crosslinked polysaccharide-based hydrogels and two acrylic hydrogels were tested as polymeric carriers for cell adsorption. Immobilization improved...
Glycerol from bio-diesel production was used in the production of
poly(hydrohyalkanoates) feeding cultures of the haloalkaliphilic bacterium
Halomonas pantelleriensis. The micro-organism grew well and biosynthesized
poly[3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB)]. The maximum yields, 10-11%
of cell dry weight, was obtained after 72 h with 0.5% industrial glycerol a...
Hydrogen metabolism in the extremophile Thermotoga neapolitana
Hydrogen yield studies in the marine thermophilic bacterium Thermotoga neapolitana
In this study we suggest a simplified and effective method to directly recover polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from humid biomass
of Halomonas campaniensis with no pre-treatment steps. Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) was directly added to dispersed biomass of cultured micro-organism
(w/w ratio: 1) in distilled water followed by shaking, heat treatment,...
DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL POLYMER MATRICES FOR BIOTECHNOLOGICAL HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
New insights for hydrogen production from the marine thermophilic Thermotoga neapolitana
New thermophilic hydrogen producing marine bacteria
The structure of a new phosphoglycolipid from the halophilic Gram-negative bacteria Halomonas elongata ATCC 33173(T), Halomonas eurihalina ATCC 49336(T), Halomonas almeriensis CECT 7050(T), strain Sharm (AM238662), Halomonas halophila DSM 4770(T), and Halomonas salina ATCC 49509(T) was elucidated by NMR and mass spectroscopy studies. In all of the...
Projects
Projects (2)
Dear colleagues,
Horticultural crops are dispersed across the world, from cool temperate to tropical latitudes and over a wide range of elevations and climatic conditions. Among horticultural crops, fruit and vegetables are considered the most important sources of nutrients and health-promoting compounds with proven beneficial qualities. However, in most fruits and vegetables, only the flesh or pulp is consumed, but studies have revealed that significant amounts of phytochemicals and essential nutrients are present in the seeds, peels, and other components not commonly consumed. In fact, an important concern about horticultural crops is linked to waste production. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that at least one-third of the fruit and vegetables produced in the world is wasted every year, simultaneously losing the related constituent phytochemicals. Wastage occurs throughout all phases of the horticultural supply and handling chain; other factors include fruits and vegetables that are fit for consumption, but discarded because they are damaged or unsuitable for the market, or derived from food surplus.
Overall, horticultural crops are excellent sources of pigments, phenolic compounds, flavoring agents and aromas, dietary fibers, sugar derivatives, organic acids, and oils. Several of these natural products possess valuable health attributes such as antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antitumor, antimutagenic, and cardio-protective activities. These phytochemicals can be utilized in different fields including the food industry, for the development of functional or enriched foods, as well for cosmetic, pharmaceutical and textile applications.
This Special Issue aims to present the state of the art on the valorization of horticultural crops, also considering wastes and by-products, using reviews and original research. This will provide deeper knowledge about phytochemicals and bioactive compounds linked to their potential health properties.
Dr. Filomena Monica Vella
Guest Editor
