Furfural is a versatile platform and multipurpose chemical that can be produced with no carbon efficiency loss from pentose sugars present in prehydrolysate streams. Existing processes for the production of furfural are typically energy-intensive with limitations to recover value-added molecules and byproducts such as lignin and acetic acid. In this work, we demonstrate a novel integrated biorefinery process for furfural production with significant sustainability improvements to current production pathways. Higher conversion efficiency for C5 sugars into furfural is achieved with a novel reactor for producing and recovering furfural in the vapor phase that has been validated at the laboratory scale. Low molecular weight and sulfur-free lignin is also recovered while minimizing energy consumption by employing membrane filtration. Synergy was observed when lignin recovery is performed prior to furfural production. On the basis of experimental results, the scalability of the process for valorizing 3200 metric tonne/day of prehydrolysate solutions that is typically combusted in kraft dissolving pulp mills was evaluated. For a furfural production capacity of 36 tonne/day, a process configuration that stands out among four proposed alternatives was identified and designed. Significant heat energy savings (99.5%) for driving the process was achieved through a heat exchanger network design for internal heat recovery, which resulted in an energy intensity of 0.47 GJ/tonne, corresponding to 1% of the energy intensity for conventional processes. The technoeconomic assessment confirmed that even the least performing process is profitable, robust, and capital-efficient as indicated by metrics such as the internal rate of return (IRR) ranging from 30% to 46%, resistance to market uncertainty (RTMU) between 0.9 and 4.3 $/$, as well as return on capital employed (ROCE) between 49% and 91%.

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Isoquercetin (ISQ) is reported to be a powerful antioxidant with extremely high bioavailability and structural stability compared to aglycone quercetin. Despite this, it is not well studied due to the limited methods for its extraction. With the growing interest in the research and analysis of ISQ-rich herbs, there is a need to optimize an efficient and rapid method for their extraction. In the present study, the ultrasound-assisted extraction of ISQ from Ephedra alata Decne was optimized by a response surface methodology (RSM) using high-performance liquid chromatography as a separation method. The best possible ranges for extraction time (10–30 min), temperature (50–70 °C), ultrasonic power (60–90 W), solvent-to-solid ratio (50–70 mL/g), and ethanol concentration (50–70%) were determined using a single factor analysis. Subsequently, an optimization of the extraction conditions was performed with RSM using the Box–Behnken design. An ultrasonication time of 10 min, a temperature of 60 °C, a power of 75 W, a solvent-to-solid ratio of 60 mL/g, and an ethanol concentration of 70% were determined to be the optimal conditions for the highest recovery of isoquercetin (1033.96 ± 3.28 µg/g). Furthermore, E. alata powder morphology (using a scanning electron microscope), antioxidant activities, and the inhibition potential of key enzymes involved in skin aging (elastase and collagenase), hyperpigmentation (tyrosinase), diabetes (α-amylase), inflammation (hyaluronidase), and neurodegenerative disorders (cholinesterase) were determined and compared with those using the Soxhlet method. This study established a highly efficient method for ISQ extraction and suggested several potential applications of ISQ in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.

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