The Project
Objectives
The objectives of the RAP-BiG project are to obtain an innovative product with valuable biological properties from a common renewable agri-food waste material and, at the same time, to explore the possibility of fully exploiting certain new varieties of red apples, which have not yet been investigated for their phytochemical profile, despite having excellent organoleptic characteristics.
The project is based on the application of a sustainable and innovative approach using NADES (Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents) to obtain valuable products/compounds from the waste and by-products (peels, seeds, and pomace) of red apple processing. The extracts obtained will be characterized for their biological activities, including cytotoxic, antiproliferative, and anti-inflammatory activity on human cell lines, to determine their pharmacological properties, as well as for their antibacterial activity against phytopathogenic and environmental bacteria, for possible biopharmaceutical and environmental applications.
The project consists of 6 Work Packages (WPs), as also illustrated in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):
WP1: Project management
Objective: general management and coordination of the various WPs and related tasks, including budget management and the organization of meetings to ensure an effective flow of information between the two research units.
WP2: Optimization of “green” extraction procedures for the recovery of bioactive compounds from red apple pomace.
Objective: to select the best operating conditions in terms of solvents and extraction techniques that allow for the optimal recovery of bioactive compounds from the matrix (anthocyanins and related phenolic compounds) from red apple peel.
WP3: Characterization of the biological activities of optimized apple pomace extracts.
Objective: to define the biological properties of the extracts in order to identify their potential applications in different fields.
WP 4: Bio-guided fractionation and chemical characterization of active extracts
Objective: to fractionate the most active extracts using a bio-guided approach in order to identify the classes of compounds most involved in the biological activity of interest
WP5: Data analysis
Objective: Analyze phytochemical and biological data using appropriate statistical methods.
WP6: Dissemination activities
Objective: Disseminate the results obtained from the research in various academic and educational contexts.
Album
Contatti
Elisa Ovidi
L.go dell'Università s.n.c. - 01100 Viterbo
0761-357123