Publications by authors named "Isabel P Fernandes"

The global demand for sustainable and non-toxic alternatives across various industries is driving the exploration of naturally derived solutions. Hydrosols, also known as hydrolates, represent a promising yet underutilised byproduct of the extraction process of essential oils (EOs). These aqueous solutions contain a complex mixture of EO traces and water-soluble compounds and exhibit significant biological activity.

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Background: Grape agri-food wastes, such as skin, seeds, and other discarded by-products, contain phytochemical compounds that offer potential health benefits.

Methods: This study aimed to investigate the polyphenol composition and bioactivities of different extracts obtained from grape marc and seeds, with the goal of exploring their potential for application as natural food additives.

Results: Regardless of the extraction method used (dynamic maceration, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE)), all extracts exhibited relatively high concentrations of phenolic compounds.

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Opportunities for the valorisation of agro-industrial residues of the chestnut ( Mill.) production chain have been fostered with the production of multifunctional polyphenol-rich extracts with the potential to be introduced as natural additives or active components in several products. Nonetheless, it is crucial to explore the feasibility of different extracts from the various by-products for these applications through the exhaustive study of their composition and bioactivities without losing sight of the sustainable character of the process.

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The use of natural colorants is needed to overcome consumer concerns regarding synthetic food colorants' safety. However, natural pigments have, in general, poor stability against environmental stresses such as temperature, ionic strength, moisture, light, and pH, among others. In this work, water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions were used as protective carriers to improve color stability of a hydrophilic L.

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Given the importance of colour in the general acceptance or rejection of a product, the use of colorants is a widespread practice, particularly in the food industry. At the same time, with the increasing consumers' awareness of the health effects that some artificial colorants can exert, there is a growing tendency to prioritize foodstuffs containing natural additives. In this work, L.

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Microencapsulation procedures have recently focused attention on designing novel microspheres via green synthesis strategies. The use of chitosan (CS) as an encapsulating material has increased interest due to its unique bioactive properties and the various crosslinking possibilities offered by their functional groups. The consolidation of the microspheres by physical crosslinking using sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) combined with chemical crosslinking using vanillin (VA) open new opportunities in the framework of green dual crosslinking strategies.

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A betacyanin rich extract was obtained from the flowers of Gomphrena globosa L. by ultrasound-assisted extraction and dried either by lyophilization or spray-drying, was tested as a natural colourant in cookies and compared to a commercial colourant. The extracts were characterized in terms of betacyanin content and antioxidant potential.

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L. (haskap) berries are widely known for their richness in anthocyanins. In this study, such fruits were assessed for their nutritional and chemical composition, but also as sources of anthocyanins with great colouring properties to be applied in foodstuff.

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Alginate-based hydrogels can find uses in a wide range of applications, including in the encapsulation field. This type of hydrogels is usually ionically crosslinked using calcium sources giving rise to products with limited internal crosslinking. In this work, it is hypothesized that the combination of alginate crosslinked by calcium chloride (external crosslinking; ionic mechanism) with gelatin crosslinked by transglutaminase (internal crosslinking; enzymatic induced mechanism) can be used to tailor the swelling behavior of alginate-based hydrogel microspheres.

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Cosmetics, like any product containing water and organic/inorganic compounds, require preservation against microbial contamination to guarantee consumer’s safety and to increase their shelf-life. The microbiological safety has as main goal of consumer protection against potentially pathogenic microorganisms, together with the product’s preservation resulting from biological and physicochemical deterioration. This is ensured by chemical, physical, or physicochemical strategies.

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Calmodulin (CaM) is an essential protein present in all eukaryote cells, ranging from vertebrates to unicellular organisms. CaM is the most important Ca signalling protein, composed of two domains, N- and C-terminal domains, linked by a flexible central α-helix, and is responsible for the regulation of numerous calcium-mediated signalling pathways. Four calcium ions bind to CaM, changing its conformation and determining how it recognizes and regulates its cellular targets.

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Bioactive extracts were obtained from powdered carob pulp through an ultrasound extraction process and then evaluated in terms of antioxidant activity. Ten minutes of ultrasonication at 375 Hz were the optimal conditions leading to an extract with the highest antioxidant effects. After its chemical characterization, which revealed the preponderance of gallotannins, the extract (free and microencapsulated) was incorporated in yogurts.

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Rubus ulmifolius Schott (Rosaceae), known as wild blackberry, is a perennial shrub found in wild and cultivated habitats in Europe, Asia and North Africa. Traditionally, it is used for homemade remedies because of its medicinal properties, including antioxidant activity. In the present work, phenolic extracts of R.

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The development of antimicrobial coatings for footwear components is of great interest both from industry and consumer's point of view. In this work, antimicrobial leather materials were developed taking advantage of chitosan intrinsic antimicrobial activity and film forming capacity. Considering the specificities of the leather tanning industry, different coating technologies, namely drum, calender and spray, were tested, being the best results achieved with the drum.

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Clioquinol is an antifungal, antiprotozoal and an Alzheimer's disease drug with cytotoxic activity toward human cancer cells. The electrochemical behavior of clioquinol and its oxidation product was studied using cyclic, differential pulse and square-wave voltammetry over a wide pH range on a glassy carbon electrode. The results revealed that the oxidation of clioquinol is an irreversible pH-dependent process that proceeds with the transfer of one electron and one proton in an adsorption-controlled mechanism and results in the formation of a main oxidation product, which adsorbs very strongly on the glassy carbon surface.

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