Green pathway for utilisation of orange peel dust and in silico evaluation of pharmacological potential

This study is focused on the investigation of the new ways of valorization and maximal utilisation of the fruit dust obtained from the orange peel during industrial processing in the filter tea production. Therefore, the possibility of the integration of two attractive green extraction methods, CO2-assisted extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), were investigated. In the first step to produce herbal extracts, supercritical carbon dioxide (Sc-CO2) extraction of the orange peel dust (OPD) was applied in the pressure range of 10-30 MPa. The second step was UAE of the OPD remaining after the Sc-CO2 extraction, with varying sonication amplitudes (20-100%). Gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry was used for the chemical characterization of Sc-CO2 ex-tracts. Among the valuable volatile compounds, the most abundant are linoleic (31.11-41.47%) and hex-adecanoic (15.22-20.58%) acid, osthol (4.53-5.42%), and 7-methoxy-8-(2-oxo-3-methylbutyl) coumarin (12.65-15.45%). Extracts obtained by UAE were analyzed by HPLC, where the dominant compounds were identified as hesperidin (848-900.24 [& mu;g/ml]), narirutin (16.70-18.16 [& mu;g/ml]), naringin (771.45--830.39 [& mu;g/ ml]) and rutin (47.53-104.40 [& mu;g/ml]). Finally, the in silico testing was performed to identify pharmacologically the most valuable bioactive compounds in the extracts, and to enable screening of the possible pharmacological effect and applications of the obtained.

Automated summary

This study focuses on finding new ways to utilize the fruit dust obtained from orange peel during industrial processing. It investigates the integration of two green extraction methods, CO2-assisted extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). The chemical characterization of the extracts obtained through these methods is analyzed, and in silico testing is performed to identify the most valuable bioactive compounds.