FFVLab (CHIM/10)

Attività di ricerca

Main research topics:

Foods, other than contain nutrients able to provide energy and represent plastic biomaterials, also represent a source of many interesting functional molecules. These bioactive compounds are able to maintain a good health status and to prevent chronic and degenerative disease, such as overweight, obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological illnesses, inflammation and cancer, mainly aging as antioxidant and radical scavenger.

The most interesting class of bioactive compounds in vegetal foods are represented by the polyphenolic (more specifically phenolic acids, flavonoids and tannins) and by the carotenoid class.

The aim of the research is to develop analytical methods able to select, identify and possibly quantify, single molecules or classes of compounds, contained in the phytocomplex of some high value foods, such as blueberry, pomegranate, goji, strawberry, sour cherry, extravirgin olive oils, red garlic, kiwi, saffron, but also less known edible fruits, or others plant materials (peels, seeds, seed oils, roots).

The identification and quantification of interesting bioactive molecules allows us to evaluate in which way and how much the technological steps could impact on food quality. So different flow-charts simulating industrial and domestic treatments were applied (freezing and thawing, homogenization, blanching, pasteurization, depectinization, microwave treatments, alone and combined together), to different matrices. Their impact on the phytocomplex is monitored and evaluated in order to individuate the best processing procedures to apply. The aim is to highlight the best preserving procedures which allows to obtain a long food duration combined with the best quality.

Color CIEL*a*b* analyses, able to provide information avoiding the sample disruption, and spectrophotometric evaluation of the antiradical activity of the extracts, complete the quali-quantitative HPLC-DAD analyses.

Collaborazioni nazionali e internazionali

Prof. Gokhan Zengin, Department of Biology, Science Faculty, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey.
Prof. Andrei Mocan, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj Napoca, Romania.
Prof. Mijat Bozovic, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro.
Prof. Luigi Menghini, Department of Pharmacy, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti–Pescara, Italy.
Dott. Simone Carradori, Department of Pharmacy, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti–Pescara, Italy.
Prof. Nadia Mulinacci, Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug and Child Health, Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Section, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Strumentazione

Perkin Elmer HPLC with DAD, UV and Fl detectors
Perkin Elmer UV-vis spectrophotometer
X-Rite colorimeter Meta-Vue®

Settori ERC

LS9_6 - Food sciences
PE4_2 - Spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques

Finanziamenti

Valutazione della qualità di oli extravergine di oliva presenti sul mercato italiano (Progetti di ricerca di Ateneo 2018, progetti piccoli, RP 1181643691A145, Euro 4000)
Valutazione degli effetti dei trattamenti tecnologici sulla componente polifenolica delle fragole (Progetti di ricerca di Ateneo 2019, progetti piccoli, RP 11916873FBB39F, Euro 4000)
Valutazione dell'attività biologica della componente polifenolica delle visciole (Prunus cerasus L.) (Progetti di ricerca di Ateneo 2020, progetti piccoli, RP 120172B414F81B, Euro 4000)

Pubblicazioni

Pubblicazioni (2019-2021):

Altieri, F., Cairone, F., Giamogante, F., Carradori, S., Locatelli, M., Chichiarelli, S., & Cesa, S. (2019). Influence of ellagitannins extracted by pomegranate fruit on disulfide isomerase PDIA3 activity. Nutrients, 11(1), 186.

Di Sotto, A., Locatelli, M., Macone, A., Toniolo, C., Cesa, S., Carradori, S., ... & Di Giacomo, S. (2019). Hypoglycemic, antiglycation, and cytoprotective properties of a phenol-rich extract from waste peel of Punica granatum L. var. Dente di Cavallo DC2. Molecules, 24(17), 3103.

Corinti, D., Maccelli, A., Crestoni, M. E., Cesa, S., Quaglio, D., Botta, B., ... & Fornarini, S. (2019). IR ion spectroscopy in a combined approach with MS/MS and IM-MS to discriminate epimeric anthocyanin glycosides (cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and-galactoside). International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 444, 116179.

Mocan, A., Cairone, F., Locatelli, M., Cacciagrano, F., Carradori, S., Vodnar, D. C., ... & Cesa, S. (2019). Polyphenols from Lycium barbarum (Goji) fruit European cultivars at different maturation steps: Extraction, HPLC-DAD analyses, and biological evaluation. Antioxidants, 8(11), 562.

Carradori, S., Cairone, F., Garzoli, S., Fabrizi, G., Iazzetti, A., Giusti, A. M., ... & Cesa, S. (2020). Phytocomplex characterization and biological evaluation of powdered fruits and leaves from Elaeagnus angustifolia. Molecules, 25(9), 2021.

Spano, M., Di Matteo, G., Rapa, M., Ciano, S., Ingallina, C., Cesa, S., ... & Mannina, L. (2020). Commercial Hemp Seed Oils: A Multimethodological Characterization. Applied Sciences, 10(19), 6933.

Cairone, F., Carradori, S., Locatelli, M., Casadei, M. A., & Cesa, S. (2020). Reflectance colorimetry: A mirror for food quality—A mini review. European Food Research and Technology, 246(2), 259-272.

Balli, D., Cecchi, L., Khatib, M., Bellumori, M., Cairone, F., Carradori, S., ... & Mulinacci, N. (2020). Characterization of arils juice and peel decoction of fifteen varieties of Punica granatum L.: A focus on anthocyanins, ellagitannins and polysaccharides. Antioxidants, 9(3), 238.

Garzoli, S., Cairone, F., Carradori, S., Mocan, A., Menghini, L., Paolicelli, P., ... & Cesa, S. (2020). Effects of Processing on Polyphenolic and Volatile Composition and Fruit Quality of Clery Strawberries. Antioxidants, 9(7), 632.

Božović, M., Garzoli, S., Baldisserotto, A., Andreotti, E., Cesa, S., Pepi, F., ... & Ragno, R. (2020). Variation in essential oil content and composition of Ridolfia segetum Moris based on 30-hour prolonged fractionated extraction procedure. Natural product research, 34(13), 1923-1926.

Maccelli, A., Cesa, S., Cairone, F., Secci, D., Menghini, L., Chiavarino, B., ... & Locatelli, M. (2020). Metabolic profiling of different wild and cultivated Allium species based on high‐resolution mass spectrometry, high‐performance liquid chromatography‐photodiode array detector, and color analysis. Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 55(11), e4525.

Cairone, F., Simonetti, G., Orekhova, A., Casadei, M. A., Zengin, G., & Cesa, S. (2021). Health Potential of Clery Strawberries: Enzymatic Inhibition and Anti-Candida Activity Evaluation. Molecules, 26(6), 1731.

Moldovan, C., Babotă, M., Mocan, A., Menghini, L., Cesa, S., Gavan, A., ... & Barros, L. (2021). Optimization of the drying process of autumn fruits rich in antioxidants: a study focusing on rosehip (Rosa canina L.) and sea buckthorn (Elaeagnus rhamnoides (L.) A. Nelson) and their bioactive properties. Food & Function, 12(9), 3939-3953.

De Monte, C., & Cesa, S. (2021). Use of saffron as a functional food and saffron nutraceuticals. In Saffron (pp. 241-273). Academic Press.

Menghini, L., Ferrante, C., Carradori, S., D’Antonio, M., Orlando, G., Cairone, F., ... & Iqbal, K. (2021). Chemical and bioinformatics analyses of the anti-leishmanial and anti-oxidant activities of hemp essential oil. Biomolecules, 11(2), 272.

Recinella, L., Chiavaroli, A., Masciulli, F., Fraschetti, C., Filippi, A., Cesa, S., ... & Leone, S. (2021). Protective Effects Induced by a Hydroalcoholic Allium sativum Extract in Isolated Mouse Heart. Nutrients, 13(7), 2332.

Cairone, F., Petralito, S., Scipione, L., & Cesa, S. (2021). Study on Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Quality Evaluation by Anti-Radical Activity, Color Analysis, and Polyphenolic HPLC-DAD Analysis. Foods, 10(8), 1808.

Moldovan, C., Frumuzachi, O., Babotă, M., Menghini, L., Cesa, S., Gavan, A., ... & Barros, L. (2021). Development of an Optimized Drying Process for the Recovery of Bioactive Compounds from the Autumn Fruits of Berberis vulgaris L. and Crataegus monogyna Jacq. Antioxidants, 10(10), 1579.