Design of Experiments and Optimization of Monacolin K Green Extraction from Red Yeast Rice by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography.

Monacolin K (MK), in red yeast rice (RYR) in the forms of lactone (LMK) and hydroxy acid (AMK), is known for its anti-hypercholesterolemic activity. Under the rising demand for natural bioactive molecules, we present a green ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) optimization study for MK in RYR. The development and validation of a fast, sensitive, selective, reproducible, and accurate ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) method coupled to diode array detection for LMK and AMK allowed us to evaluate the MK recovery in different extract media.

Phenolic and Antioxidant Characterization of Fruit By-Products for Their Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements Valorization under a Circular Bio-Economy Approach.

Agri-food by-products, obtained as waste from the food industry, negatively impact the global economy and the environment. In order to valorize waste materials from fruit juices and tomato sauces as upcycled materials rich in health-promoting compounds, they were characterized in terms of polyphenolic and protein content. The results obtained were compared with those collected for their final products.

Integrated analytical approaches for the characterization of Spirulina and Chlorella microalgae.

Microalgae are well-known for their content of bioactive molecules such as pigments, proteins, fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins and antioxidants, all of which are of great interest in the preparation of a wide range of products such as food, cosmetics and nutraceuticals. The purpose of this project was the analytical characterization of commercial dry microalgal biomass: four samples of Chlorella and five of Spirulina were analysed in order to highlight their content in terms of micro/macro nutrients. The research was oriented towards the development and validation of accurate, fast and reproducible methods for the nutritional assessment of algal biomasses, aiming to provide a guiding methodology.

Fentanyl pharmacokinetics in blood of cancer patients by Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry.

In order to find a correlation between Fentanyl action on pain and inter-individual variability in different cancer patients, the pharmacokinetic characterization of the drug becomes essential. Therefore, a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) in SIM mode analytical procedure has been developed and validated for the determination of Fentanyl in human blood. The sample preparation consisted of a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) from whole blood.

Aβ peptide toxicity on neuronal cells: A lipidomic study.

Currently Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathological pathways, which lead to cell death and dementia, are not completely well-defined; in particular, the lipid changes in brain tissues that begin years before AD symptoms. Due to the central role of the amyloid aggregation process in the early phase of AD pathogenesis, we aimed at developing a lipidomic approach to evaluate the amyloid toxic effects on differentiated human neuroblastoma derived SH-SY5Y cells. First of all, this work was performed to highlight qualitative and relative quantitative lipid variations in connection with amyloid toxicity.