Ramón Aznar RocaTEAGASC - The Agriculture and Food Development Authority · Nutraceutical
Ramón Aznar Roca
BAgrSc, MAgrSc, PhD Analytical chemistry
About
18
Publications
3,721
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383
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
I have experience working in a multidisciplinary environmental where I have developed a knowledge of a wide range of areas including: food, agriculture, soil and water chemistry, monitoring programs and analythical and environemntal chemistry.
My current research topic involves method development (GC, LC-MS, MS/MS, QTOF) to detect, separate and characterize (NMR) new compounds in seaweed with agricultural and pharmaceutical interest.
Always willing to face new challenges!
Additional affiliations
May 2017 - December 2017
January 2013 - present
Publications
Publications (18)
Microalgae are potential sources for the sustainable production of valuable chemicals including polyphenols, pigments, and ω-3 PUFAs. However, successful exploitation of these high value compounds in the food, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors depends greatly on their effective separation, identification, and analysis after recovery from the bi...
Australian finger limes (Citrus australasica L.), an unusual citrus due to its unique pulp with a caviar-like appearance, has reached the global market as a promising source of bioactive compounds that promote health. This research was, therefore, performed to shed light on the bioactivity and composition of different parts of Citrus australasica L...
The purification and isolation steps for enrichment of bioactive phytochemicals extracted from herbs and spices have always presented several challenges. This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive review of different purification techniques used to sample, clean‐up, and isolate phytocompounds, starting with the most traditional techniques such as...
The reliability of effectiveness of herbs and spices to treat and prevent common human illnesses has been always questioned due to the lack of scientific evidences. Since ancient times, plants have been used to improve human health, although the mechanisms were never properly understood. In recent years, modern medicine has start to use and even co...
The frenetic lifestyle in the developed countries has driven us to be deficient in some nutrients, which may be overcome by supplements. Microalgae, like spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) and chlorella (Chlorella ssp.) are widely used as supplements due to their high contents of macro-and micronutrients. Chlorella and spirulina can be grown natural...
The extraction of target compounds from biological matrices largely depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of the extraction technique(s) employed. The objective of this review is to discuss a range of ultrasound assisted extraction processes alone or in combination with other approaches. In recent years, ultrasound has proven to be effective...
It is now believed that more than 4,000 species of microalgae exist
and just a few hundred of these have been investigated, which
suggests that they are one of the most unexplored groups in the
world. Thus, more research needs to be done to assess the relatively
unknown reservoir of novel compounds, and the full potential of
these organisms. Microa...
A multiresidue method was developed for the determination of 19 emerging organic contaminants (pharmaceutical drugs, personal care products and bisphenol A) in poultry manure. Lyophilized samples of manure were extracted by ultrasound-assisted matrix solid-phase dispersion and the extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography with tandem mass spectr...
Single particle-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICPMS) is a promising technique able to generate the number based-particle size distribution (PSD) of nanoparticles (NPs) in aqueous suspensions. However, SP-ICPMS analysis is not consolidated as routine-technique yet and is not typically applied to real test samples with unknown comp...
Purpose
The demand of rice by the increase in population in many countries has intensified the application of pesticides and the use of poor quality water to irrigate fields. The terrestrial environment is one compartment affected by these situations, where soil is working as a reservoir, retaining organic pollutants. Therefore, it is necessary to...
PVA polymers have been well-known as water-absorbing materials but their brittle nature hinders their applicability. In this study, we enhanced the strength of hydrogel and its water-absorbing capabilities by glutaraldehyde-assisted crosslinking of starch with PVA and blending BMIM-BF4 to enhance the plasticity and generate porosity within the hydr...
The cultivation of rice (Oriza sativa L.) under Mediterranean conditions regularly requires the use of treated wastewater due to shortage of freshwater. As a consequence, the intensification of rice production to supply the uprising demand of grain could break the stability between agriculture and environment. In this work, we studied the occurrenc...
An analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination in poultry manure of 41 organic contaminants belonging to different chemical classes: pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Poultry manure was
extracted with a modified QuEChERS method, and the extracts were a...
The release of hormones into the environment due to land application of biosolids and manure is a cause of concern for their potential impacts. This paper presents the development of a rapid and sensitive method, based on extraction, for the analysis of 13 hormones in biosolids and poultry manure. A simultaneous derivatization of hydroxyl and keton...
This work describes the analysis of 15 pharmaceutical compounds, belonging to different therapeutic classes (anti-inflammatory/analgesics, lipid regulators, antiepileptics, β-blockers and antidepressants) and with diverse physical-chemical properties, in Spanish soils with different farmland uses. The studied compounds were extracted from soil by u...
Projects
Projects (2)
EnhanceMicroAlgae is a project funded by the INTERREG Atlantic Area programme, which promotes transnational cooperation among 36 Atlantic regions of Portugal, Spain, France, United Kingdom and Ireland. The main aim of EnhanceMicroAlgae is to facilitate the
transfer of knowledge between academic experts and companies in the microalgal sector to boost the industrial exploitation of microalgae for different applications and the development of business. Project partners -8 universities and non-profit technological centres, plus 4
private SMEs- offer a wide range of skills and interests, with strong track records for science, production and exploitation of microalgae throughout the Atlantic Area.
Irish seaweeds are recognised as important source of valuable bioactives with, potential for food applications. However, their chemical composition is highly variable, and fluctuates according to environmental influences. More recently, the impacts of biotic (including microbiome) impacts on algal chemical composition and associated bioactivity have been demonstrated but the implications of these impacts on algae used for food applications remain poorly understood. Additionally, storage and processing methodologies influence both directly (e.g. degradation/oxidation processes) and indirectly (through microbe-mediated processes) the food value of algal biomass. This project will assess the role of seaweed-associated bacteria in bioactive production, and potential degradation, and investigate the scope to apply naturally produced enzymes to increase bioactive yields.
