Florentina Munteanu

• Prof., PhD Habil.
• Professor at Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad

The adoption of chrome-free anodizing and sealing systems for aluminum alloys, particularly AA2024, is gaining prominence due to environmental and health concerns associated with traditional Cr(VI)-based processes. This study evaluates the environmental and economic impacts of sulfuric acid anodizing (SAA) combined with sealing based on fluorozirco...

In this current research, various amino acids (lysine, betaine, and cysteine) and peptides (oxidised or reduced glutathione) were considered as potential environmentally friendly alternatives to wool bleaching. A greener methodology was also applied to dyeing. Different agro-wastes (red cabbage, peppercorns, and red and yellow onion peels) served a...

The main aim of the present study was to characterize the quality of the sewage leaving the Arad Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant and highlight the emergence and importance of water reclamation, recycling, and reuse as vital components in integrated aquatic resources management for further reuse. The sewer quality assessment was performed for t...

The present study aims to assess the soil quality on a hydrocarbon power plant site in Arad, Romania. It investigates the evolution of heavy metal concentrations (Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Cd, and Cr) to establish source-related risks. For this purpose, the Global Pollution Index (GPI) was used, calculated for soil sampling points in the licensed area, and t...

In contrast to rapeseed oil, pumpkin seed oil has yet to be well investigated in terms of oleogelation, and, to the best of our knowledge, no study related to the use of ethylcellulose (EC) in the structuring of this oil has been identified in the current scientific literature. Therefore, the present study evaluated several oleogels formulated with...

The integration of nanomaterials into sensor technologies not only poses challenges but also opens up promising prospects for future research. These challenges include assessing the toxicity of nanomaterials, scalability issues, and the seamless integration of these materials into existing infrastructures. Future development opportunities lie in cr...

The present study focuses on current knowledge of the local tap water and sewage systems among the citizens of three western Romanian localities. Only one of the considered localities in this study, namely, Pecica, partially benefits from access to a centralized tap water and sewerage system. The interest in this subject was caused by a procedure i...

Currently, a large number of scientific articles can be found in the research literature in the field focusing on the use of oleogels for food formulation to improve their nutritional properties. The present review focuses on the most representative food-grade oleogels, highlighting current trends in terms of the most suitable methods of analysis a...

Food products contain important quantities of fats, which include saturated and/or unsaturated fatty acids. Because of a proven relationship between saturated fat consumption and the appearance of several diseases, an actual trend is to eliminate them from foodstuffs by finding solutions for integrating other healthier fats with high stability and...

The microtubule-associated protein Tau has its normal function impaired when undergoing post-translational modifications. In this work, molecular modelling techniques were used to infer the effects of acetylation and phosphorylation in Tau's overall conformation, electrostatics, and interactions, but mostly in Tau's ability to bind microtubules. Re...

Aim The efficacy and security of food supplements are largely used terms nowadays, giving rise to controversies regarding the safety or risks that may occur in consuming such products. Subject and methods In the international literature, there are studies regarding the consumption of dietary supplements from a medical or sociological point of view...

The monitoring of environmental pollution requires fast, reliable, cost-effective and small devices. This need explains the recent trends in the development of biosensing devices for pollutant detection. The present review aims to summarize the newest trends regarding the use of biosensors to detect environmental contaminants. Enzyme, whole cell, a...

Featured Application A potential application of the proposed topic considers the opportunity of agro-industrial waste valorization to reduce its environmental impact. The designed approach opens the possibility of improving specific indicators of the wastewaters from hemp-retting processing. Abstract The present investigation focuses on a possible...

One of the agro-industry’s side streams that is widely met is the-keratin rich fibrous material that is becoming a waste product without valorization. Its management as a waste is costly, as the incineration of this type of waste constitutes high environmental concern. Considering these facts, the keratin-rich waste can be considered as a treasure...

Benzene, toluene, and total BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) concentrations registered for one year (2016) have been determined every month for one high-density traffic area. The assessment was performed in Arad City, Romania, to evaluate these pollutants and their influence on the inhabitants' health. The contaminants were sampled...

The impact of different extraction methods on bioactive compounds (total phenols and flavonoids) recovery from onion wastes recovered from the market was investigated. The results revealed a total polyphenol content from 25.19 ± 3.56 mg gallic acid equivalents/g for enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) to 212.56 ± 1.18 mg gallic acid equivalents/g for...

The impact of different extraction methods on bioactive compounds (total phenols and flavonoids) recovery from onion wastes recovered from the market was investigated. The results revealed a total polyphenol content from 25.19 ± 3.56 mg gallic acid equivalents/g for enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) to 212.56 ± 1.18 mg gallic acid equivalents/g for...

The working conditions in a slaughterhouse are difficult because of the low temperatures, high humidity, and little natural light. Therefore, in these facilities, there is a high demand in the maintenance of strict hygiene rules. Lately, the new SARS-CoV-2 pandemic situation has brought new challenges in the meat industry, as this sector has to mai...

Meat products represent an important component of the human diet, their consumption registering a global increase over the last few years. These foodstuffs constitute a good source of energy and some nutrients, such as essential amino acids, high biological value proteins, minerals like iron, zinc, selenium, manganese and B-complex vitamins, especi...

This paper presents an enzyme biocatalytic method for grafting lignin (grafting bioprocess) with aniline, leading to an amino-derivatized polymeric product with modified properties (e.g., conductivity, acidity/basicity, thermostability and amino-functionalization). Peroxidase enzyme was used as a biocatalyst and H2O2 was used as an oxidation reagen...

Alpha-cypermethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid that was extensively used for insect control, since the early 1980s. However, it is known that its presence in the environment has toxic effects on humans and aquatic life forms. For this reason, it is commendable for it to be removed completely from the contaminated environment. In this study, we evalua...

The present study considered the use of a by-product from winemaking for the treatment of wastewater from hemp retting process. To evaluate if different obtained extracts of grape marc (BRE-extract of refrigerated grape marc, BUE-extract of dried grape marc, BLE-extracted of lyophilised grape marc, BLM-ultrasound soaked lyophilised grape marc, BLM...

The present study considered the use of a by-product from winemaking for the treatment of wastewater from hemp retting process. To evaluate if different obtained extracts of grape marc (BRE-extract of refrigerated grape marc, BUE-extract of dried grape marc, BLE-extracted of lyophilised grape marc, BLM-ultrasound soaked lyophilised grape marc, BLM...

Stilbenes represent a class of compounds with a common 1,2-diphenylethylene backbone that have shown extraordinary potential in the biomedical field. As the most well-known example, resveratrol proved to have anti-aging effects and significant potential in the fight against cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer. Mass spectrometry is an a...

The impact of the antibiotics in the environment is not well understood yet. Moreover, the total amount of antibiotics that are ending up in the environment as solid waste is not known and cannot be rigorously determined as many variables are influencing the determination of their concentration. The present article is focused on the estimation of t...

Tau is a microtubule-associated protein that promotes microtubule assembly and stability. This protein is implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s. To date, the three-dimensional (3D) structure of tau has not been fully solved, experimentally. Even the most recent information is sometimes controversial in regard to ho...

The intensive use of toxic and remanent pesticides in agriculture has prompted research into novel performant, yet cost-effective and fast analytical tools to control the pesticide residue levels in the environment and food. In this context, biosensors based on enzyme inhibition have been proposed as adequate analytical devices with the added advan...

This review provides a brief overview of the fabrication and properties of screen-printed electrodes and details the different opportunities to apply them for the detection of antibiotics, detection of bacteria and antibiotic susceptibility. Among the alternative approaches to costly chromatographic or ELISA methods for antibiotics detection and to...

Dyes stand for one of the long-lived pollutants from textile wastewaters. For the de-pollution of these wastewaters the dye degradation is compulsory. Thus, the conditions for the degradation of two blue anthraquinone dyes, frequently used in dyeing of textile materials, have been studied. These dyes have similar chemical structure with an anthraqu...

A newly effective system was used to bleach ligno-cellulosic textile materials. This system is based on two different newly synthesized natrium oxo-diperoxo molybdates, Na2[MoO (O2)2(C2O4)] and Na2[MoO (O2)2(C6H6O7)]. These two compounds were characterized by means of cyclic voltammetry, and the bleached fabrics were fully characterized by measurin...

The invention relates to a process for obtaining fibers from stems of bast fiber plants to be used in the textile industry. According to the invention, the process consists in treating the stems with a mixed inoculum of microorganisms from a sublayer of fruit wastes and a bakery yeast with an addition of AIK (SO4) 2 for 48 h in a buffer medium of p...

Prezenta invenţie se referă la un procedeu de topire a tulpinilor de plante liberiene ca de exemplu: in, cânepă, iută, etc. Dacă fibrele de in sau cânepă urmează să fie utilizate în textile sau alte aplicaţii de vîrf atunci acestea trebuiesc separate de restul tulpinilor. Topirea este un proces microbian prin care se rup legăturile chimice care ţin...

The invention relates to a process for obtaining fibers from stems of bast fiber plants to be used in the textile industry. According to the invention, the process consists in treating the stems with a mixed inoculum of microorganisms from a sublayer of fruit wastes and a bakery yeast with an addition of AIK (SO4) 2 for 48 h in a buffer medium of p...

In living systems, protein disulphide isomerase (PDI, EC 5.3.4.1) regulates the formation of new disulphide bonds in proteins (oxidase activity) and catalyzes the rearrangement of non-native disulphide bonds (isomerase activity), leading proteins towards their native configuration. In this study, PDI was used to attach cysteine-containing compounds...

The results obtained using Trametes versicolor laccase modified graphite electrodes for detection of eleven different commercially reactive dyes are presented for the first time herein. The increase in current upon injection of the analyzed substrate was shown to be approximated by Michaelis–Menten type dependence. The calculated kinetic constants...

Laccases are useful biocatalysts for many diverse biotechnological applications. In this study we have established efficient and reliable expression systems and high-throughput screenings for the recombinant CotA-laccase from Bacillus subtilis. The expression levels of cotA-laccase were compared in five different Escherichia coli host strains growi...

Aryl-alcohol oxidase (AAO) electrochemistry studies, using graphite-modified electrodes, are presented for the first time herein. The increase in current upon injection of the analyzed substrate was shown to be approximated by Michaelis–Menten type dependence. The calculated kinetic constants were used to characterize the native (non-mutated) recom...

In this paper are presented the possibilities of using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry in textile industry. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry it is a convenient, versatile method for characterization and identification of dyes and pigments, and also for characterization of fibers and contaminants o...

In this paper is presented the first attempt to use a biosensor for detection of reactive dyes. The results obtained using a laccase biosensor for detection of a reactive dye, bezaktiv blue V-2R, are presented and based on the calculated sensitivity in terms of Imax/Km app ratio it can be concluded that it is possible to use a laccase biosensor for...

The effects of ultrasound on 2,2'-Azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) enzymatic oxidation by laccase (Trametes villosa) has been studied by means of cyclic voltammetry. The reaction was allowed to proceed in the presence of a piece of wool and the coloration depth of the wool fabric was measured by means of K/S. It was observed that cyclic...

The potential of laccase enzymes for polymerizing, crosslinking and functionalizing various compounds was studied extensively and increasing interest has been focused on the application of this enzyme as a new biocatalyst in organic synthesis.[1-6] Laccases (EC 1.10.3.2) are a class of multi-copper-containing oxidoreductase enzymes able to catalyze...

A simple and inexpensive amperometric biosensor for formate detection was obtained by immobilization of formate dehydrogenase (FDH) on graphite powder, modified with a new phenothiazine derivative (DDDP; 16H, 18H-dibenzo[c,1]-7,9-dithia-16,18-diazapentacene). Two different enzyme environments were used: FDH was adsorbed on DDDP-modified graphite po...

Electron transfer (ET) of versatile peroxidase (VP) was studied in the bioelectrocatalytic reduction reaction of H2O2 at peroxidase-modified graphite electrodes to obtain additional information on the kinetic characteristics of this novel ligninolytic peroxidase. Rotating disk electrodes (RDE) experiments were performed at 0V (vs. SCE) in two diffe...

The ability of Trametes villosa laccase to degrade an azo dye (methyl orange) and to catalyze the coupling reactions between the aromatic amines and catechol was studied. It was found that the apparent Michaelis-Menten constants obtained from amperometric measurements were comparable to the ones obtained in the oxygen consumption experiments (8.20...

Laccases are a multi-copper phenol oxidase, which reduces oxygen to water and simultaneously catalyze the oxidation of aromatic pollutant such anilines and phenols [1, 2]. Several methods using laccase, immobilized laccase and laccase/mediator system have been developed for the treatment of the textile effluents [3-11]. This enzyme decolorizes...

The basic electrochemistry of carbon paste electrodes modified with two new redox mediators, nitro-fluorenone derivatives, one neutral and one negatively charged, adsorbed on zirconium phosphate has been studied as well as their ability to oxidize NADH electrocatalytically. Cyclic voltammetry of these chemically modified electrodes performed in dif...

The Trametes villosa laccase was used in two different approaches - the direct degradation of azo dye effluents and the coupling/polymerization reaction, with catechol, of the aromatic amines from azo dye reduction. In both systems addition of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT) as mediator improved the catalytic efficiencies of studied reactions. The kin...

The electrochemical and the electrocatalytic behavior for NADH oxidation of a newly synthesized phenothiazine derivative, 16H,18H-dibenzo[c,1]-7,9-dithia-16,18-diazapentacene (DDDP), adsorbed on solid spectrographic graphite and on graphite powder or on zirconium phosphate (ZP), both entrapped in carbon paste, were compared. Experiments using cycli...

Toluidine Blue O (TBO) was covalently bound on silica gel and mixed with graphite powder and paraffin oil to produce modified carbon paste electrodes. The formal potential (E°′) of the covalently bound TBO was found to be −100 mV versus Ag|AgCl (KCl sat.) at pH 7.0 and the E°′ varied less than anticipated for a 2-electron–proton type mediator with...

The electrocatalytic properties for NADH oxidation of five organic dyes, two indophenol derivatives (2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol and indophenol) and three o-quinone derivatives (phenanthrenequinone, pyrroloquinoline-quinone, and 1,2-naphthoquinone) were compared when adsorbed on zirconium phosphate entrapped in carbon paste. The electrochemical be...

A detailed study is presented on the leaking of two different 2-electron-transfer redox mediators from zirconium phosphate-modified carbon-paste electrodes. Two redox mediators commonly used in bioelectrochemistry, viz. methylene green and riboflavin, were adsorbed on zirconium phosphate and further integrated into carbon paste. Fast scan cyclic vo...

This work describes a novel approach to detoxify lignocellulosic hydrolysates and facilitate the analysis of inhibitory compounds, namely supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). The efficiency of the fermentation of lignocellulosic dilute-acid hydrolysates depends upon the composition of the hydrolysate and the organism used. Furthermore, it has been...

Carbon paste electrodes were modified with a nitrofluorenone derivative, 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone, adsorbed on zirconium phosphate (ZP). After electrochemical reduction of the fluorenone derivative, it turns into a very efficient mediator for electrocatalytic NADH oxidation, with a formal potential of about +250 mV vs. Ag/AgCl. The electrochemis...

A detailed study is reported on the electrocatalytic oxidation of β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide at three different carbon paste electrodes modified with redox mediators commonly used in bioelectrochemistry, viz. Meldola blue, methylene green and riboflavin, adsorbed on zirconium phosphate. Cyclic voltammetric investigations of these chemicall...

Phenolic structures are very common in environmentally hazardous compounds, justifying the development of biosensors targeted at measuring phenolic compounds. Common phenol biosensors are based on tyrosinase, laccase or tissues containing these enzymes. These enzymes have shown to have a rather narrow substrate selectivity. In this study we report...

The properties of anionic tobacco peroxidase (TOP) adsorbed on graphite electrode have been studied in direct and mediated electron transfer in a wall-jet flow injection system. The percentage of tobacco peroxidase molecules active in directelectron transfer is about 83%, which is higher than that for horeradish peroxidase (40–50%). This observatio...

Some phenazines, phenoxazines, and phenothiazines as well as riboflavin were immobilised on amorphous titanium phosphate (TP) by adsorption from aqueous solutions. The immobilised organic redox compounds revealed a reasonable electron transfer rate and with a formal potential (E degrees') at pH 7.0 more positive than that observed for their corresp...

Direct electron transfer (DET) between redox enzymes and electrodes found the basis for third generation biosensors. Recent investigations in the authors’ laboratories on the bioelectrochemistry of heme-containing proteins and enzymes, primarily peroxidases, but also cellobiose dehydrogenase, will be reviewed.

This paper presents a comparison between the results obtained for the kinetics of direct and mediated electroreduction of hydrogen peroxide at horseradish peroxidase (HRP) modified graphite electrodes, used either as a rotating disk electrode (RDE) or as the working electrode in a wall-jet flow through cell. The advantages of using a wall-jet flow...

An amperometric flow system combined with a glucose oxidase-mutarotase reactor was optimized and used to determine aromatic amines and phenols using peroxidase-modified graphite electrodes. An increase in currents upon injection of the analyzed substrate was shown to be approximated by a Michaelis-Menten type dependence. The detection limit was cal...