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National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences

Advanced and emergent technologies to obtain vegetal extracts used in innovator food supplements

Description

This proposal, aiming to obtain innovative formulations of dietary supplements with action to support liver function, will valorise two autochthonous medicinal species (Scirpoides holoschoenus and Helichrysum arenarium), the first used in ethnomedicine, the second in cultured medicine (in some European countries and highlighted by the EEA). For the first species, the aim is to cultivate it in experimental fields in order to preserve biodiversity and to ensure the plant raw material, through multiplication techniques and the establishment of technological parameters. The plants obtained from culture and wild flora will be phytochemically evaluated. Both plant species will be valorised in an innovative way, thus comparative studies will be carried out by classical (static and dynamic) and non-conventional (SPE, ultrasound, supercritical fluids, etc.) extraction methods, and the optimal method will be selected. The extracts will be characterised phytochemically (CSS, HPTLC, densitometry, HPLC, GC-MS, UV/VIS spectrophotometry) and tested biologically (to demonstrate the liver function-supporting action) and phytobiologically (cytogenicity, cytotoxicity). The liver function-supporting compounds are non-toxic, easily assimilated and contribute to the proper functioning of the body. Finally, an extraction technology will be developed (at the laboratory stage) to obtain selective plant extracts rich in bioactive compounds of interest, and original biocomplexes will be obtained from plant extracts as vectors for new food supplements. Innovative packaging formulations (encapsulation) will be realised based on plant extracts obtained under experimental conditions (at the laboratory stage), with the establishment of test methods for qualitative and quantitative evaluation. This form of conditioning confers the advantage of a good and easy administration of the predetermined dose of biocomponents, while protecting the phytocomplex.