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- Current challenges in the sustainable valorisation of agri-food wastes: a reviewPublication . Berenguer, Cristina V.; Andrade, Carolina; Pereira, Jorge A. M.; Perestrelo, Rosa; José S. Câmara; Berenguer, Cristina; Augusto Machado Pereira, Jorge; Perestrelo, Rosa; Câmara, JoséIn the upcoming years, the world will face societal challenges arising, in particular, from the impact of climate change and the inefficient use of natural resources, in addition to an exponential growth of the world population, which according to the United Nations (UN) estimations will be 9.8 billion in 2050. This increasing trend requires optimized management of natural resources with the use of value-added waste and a significant reduction in food loss and food waste. Moreover, the recent pandemic situation, COVID-19, has contributed indisputably. Along with the agri-food supply chain, several amounts of waste or by-products are generated. In most cases, these biomass wastes cause serious environmental concerns and high costs to enterprises. The valorisation of the agri-food loss and food industry wastes emerged as a useful strategy to produce certain value-added compounds with several potential applications, namely in the food, health, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and environmental fields. Therefore, in this review, some of the crucial sustainable challenges with impacts on the valorisation of agri-food loss/wastes and by-products are discussed and identified, in addition to several opportunities, trends and innovations. Potential applications and usages of the most important compounds found in food loss/waste will be highlighted, with a focus on the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, and the environment.
- Differences in the volatilomic urinary biosignature of prostate cancer patients as a feasibility study for the detection of potential biomarkersPublication . Riccio, Giulia; Berenguer, Cristina V.; Perestrelo, Rosa; Pereira, Ferdinando; Berenguer, Pedro; Ornelas, Cristina P.; Sousa, Ana Célia; Vital, João Aragão; Pinto, Maria do Carmo; Pereira, Jorge A. M.; Greco, Viviana; Câmara, José S.; Berenguer, Cristina; Perestrelo, Rosa; Augusto Machado Pereira, Jorge; Câmara, JoséProstate cancer (PCa) continues to be the second most common malignant tumour and the main cause of oncological death in men. Investigating endogenous volatile organic metabolites (VOMs) produced by various metabolic pathways is emerging as a novel, effective, and non-invasive source of information to establish the volatilomic biosignature of PCa. In this study, headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) was used to establish the urine volatilomic profile of PCa and identify VOMs that can discriminate between the two investigated groups. This non-invasive approach was applied to oncological patients (PCa group, n = 26) and cancer-free individuals (control group, n = 30), retrieving a total of 147 VOMs from various chemical families. This included terpenes, norisoprenoid, sesquiterpenes, phenolic, sulphur and furanic compounds, ketones, alcohols, esters, aldehydes, carboxylic acid, benzene and naphthalene derivatives, hydrocarbons, and heterocyclic hydrocarbons. The data matrix was subjected to multivariate analysis, namely partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Accordingly, this analysis showed that the group under study presented different volatomic profiles and suggested potential PCa biomarkers. Nevertheless, a larger cohort of samples is required to boost the predictability and accuracy of the statistical models developed.