
94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Chem. Eng.
Sec. Environmental Chemical Engineering
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fceng.2025.1529850
This article is part of the Research Topic Valorization of Biomass: Towards the Production of Fine Chemicals and Materials View all 3 articles
The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Cabralea canjerana and Cordia americana, two Brazilian tree species found across various states, serve a range of applications from sawmill products to folk medicine. Extractives, non-structural wood components, are utilized for diverse purposes, including natural dyes, preservatives, and medicinal products. After a comprehensive search of the literature, no publications were found characterizing the chemical composition of C. canjerana and C. americana wood. This increases the need to research these species and learn more about their potential. The vast diversity of Brazil's tree species sometimes complicates the selection process for extraction purposes, highlighting the importance of anatomical wood identification. This study aims to evaluate the presence of fine molecules with important biological activity or industrial value in the wood extractives of C. canjerana and C. americana, proposing potential uses for the extracted lignocellulosic biomass and providing anatomical identification support for these species. Characterization of the wood included analysis of ash, hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin content. Extraction methods employed ethanol, ethanol-toluene, hot water, and 1% soda, followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for chemical analysis. Anatomical characteristics were determined using histological slides. Cordia americana displayed a 53.61% holocellulose content in relation to the dry mass, suitable for paper production, while Cabralea canjerana, with a 55.92% content, was deemed even more appropriate. GC-MS analysis identified several significant molecules in the extractives, including Phenol, 2,4-bis(1-phenylethyl), which is potentially effective in breast cancer drug development, and Gestrinone, a possible treatment for endometriosis. The anatomical examination of the C. canjerana and C. americana samples confirmed their species identity, aligning with the study's objectives.
Keywords: Cabralea canjerana, Cordia americana, Extractives, GC-MS, Cellulose, Hemicellulose, Lignin, histological slides Português (Brasil)
Received: 17 Nov 2024; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Berwaldt Santos, Ceretta Moreira, Fonseca Leitzke, Alves Ramos, Soares Bilhalva dos Santos, Fuentes and Gatto. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mateus Berwaldt Santos, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, University of the Basque Country, Plaza Europa, 1, 20018, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Research integrity at Frontiers
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.