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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Chem.
Sec. Analytical Chemistry
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2024.1437221
This article is part of the Research Topic Recent Advances in Pharmaceutical Analysis: Applications and New Challenges for the Quality of Medicines View all 4 articles

Chemical characterization of wheat-based waste derived from a pharmaceutical process for its potential valorization

Provisionally accepted
Paolo Grieco Paolo Grieco 1,2*Lidia Ciriaco Lidia Ciriaco 2Luana Izzo Luana Izzo 2Giulia Graziani Giulia Graziani 2Maria Grazia Ferraro Maria Grazia Ferraro 3Marialuisa Piccolo Marialuisa Piccolo 2Roberto Ciampaglia Roberto Ciampaglia 2Barbara Maglione Barbara Maglione 4Roberta Palladino Roberta Palladino 4Eugenia Romano Eugenia Romano 4Simone Albarella Simone Albarella 4Alberto Ritieni Alberto Ritieni 2Carlo Irace Carlo Irace 2
  • 1 University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
  • 2 Independent researcher, Naples, Italy
  • 3 Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Campania, Italy
  • 4 Damor Farmaceutici Damor S.p.A., Napoli, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    We report the analysis and characterization and the preliminary biological evaluation, of both liquid and solid wastes obtained from the processing of wheat (Triticum vulgare) to produce the most iconic phytostimulin-based pharmaceutical products. The study aims to verify whether the waste can be reused in another process and not destined to its simple destructive disposal. In this perspective, we first carried out an in-depth chemical-physical analysis of the waste together with a biocompatibility evaluation to plan the feasible final choice of waste destination.The liquid and solid waste derived from the processing of wheat extract were analyzed and characterized through ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC Q-Orbitrap HRMS). Results highlight that ferulic acid represent the most abundant phenolic compound for solid waste with a content of 89.782 mg/Kg and dihydroferulic acid is the predominant for liquid waste (6.24 mg/L). These concentrations represent 55.87% and 84.39% of the total concentration of bioactive compounds for liquid and solid waste, respectively. The antioxidant activity registered for the solid extract was 8.598 and 7.262 mmol trolox/kg, respectively for ABTS and FRAP assays. The total phenolic content (TPC) in the liquid extract undergoes a significant percentage reduction compared to the solid waste.As regards toxicity, both liquid and solid wastes were investigated in vitro preclinical models of human skin (HaCaT cells and HDFa) after 24, 48, and 72 hours of exposure. No cytotoxic effect was noted even at the highest tested concentration (100 µg/mL) at 72 h. Overall, considering its chemo-physical features and active ingredients, we believe that this waste is highly reusable as a starting material for the development of cosmeceutical products. Thus, this study allows us to motivate the destination of the waste of the production in a recyclable raw material for additional industrial processes, thereby promoting an eco-friendly circular economy operation.

    Keywords: Triticum vulgare, Pharmaceutical waste, Biocompatibility, bioactive compounds, upcycling, UHPLC Q-Orbitrap HRMS

    Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 28 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Grieco, Ciriaco, Izzo, Graziani, Ferraro, Piccolo, Ciampaglia, Maglione, Palladino, Romano, Albarella, Ritieni and Irace. 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: Paolo Grieco, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    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.