Lignin is identified as a promising candidate in renewable energy and bioproduct manufacturing due to its high abundance, polymeric structure, and biochemical properties of monomers. Thus, emerging opportunities exist in generating high-value small molecules from lignin through depolymerization. This review aims at providing an overview of the major technologies of lignin depolymerization. The feasibility of large-scale implementation of these technologies, including thermal, biological, and chemical depolymerizations, are discussed in relation to potential industrial applications. Lignin as a renewable alternative to petroleum-based chemicals has been well documented. This review attempts to emphasize potential applications of lignin-derived monomers and their derivatives as bioactives in food, natural health product, and pharmaceutical sectors. The critical review of the prospects and challenges of lignin-derived bioproducts reveals that the advancement of research and development is required to explore the applications of depolymerization of lignins to their full potential.

Three different apple-carrot juice blends (60:40, 75:25 and 90:10, v/v) were prepared and treated with ultrasound with comparison to the conventional thermal pasteurization. Total aerobic viable count (TAC) were significantly lower in juice blends with lower pH (apple-carrot ratio of 90:10, v/v) than the blends with higher pH after one month storage at 4˚C. TAC were similar in ultrasound-treated and thermal pasteurized juice blends. Changes of turbidity of juice during storage followed the same pattern of TAC. Other juice quality parameters such as color, pH, titratable acid, total soluble solids, antioxidant capacity and beta-carotene did not change significantly during the storage period. The results suggest that ultrasound treatment has a potential to use as an alternative non-thermal technique for traditional thermal pasteurization process for maintaining the quality of beverages prepared from fruit and vegetable juices.

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Thymus schimperi Ronniger is a wild endemic herb to Ethiopia, and is traditionally used as food flavoring, preservative as well as medicinal ingredient. This paper reports the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant capacity and α-amylase inhibition activity of various solvent extracts of the dried leaves. The acetone extracts contained the highest total phenolic content (122.0±11.6 mg GAE/g). Total flavonoid content was the highest in methanol extract (45.1±2.9 mg QRE/g). The aqueous methanol extract showed the highest 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging ability (IC 50 =11.0±1.0 µg/ml), iron reducing power (60.1±1.0 mg AAE/g), and total antioxidant capacity (1.1±0.1 mg BHTE/g). The water extract exhibited the highest iron chelating activity (IC 50 = 65.4±1.1 µg/ml) while the methanol extract exhibited the highest percentage of α-amylase inhibition activity (IC 50 = 335. 6±90.4 µg/ml). Except for iron chelating activity, all antioxidant activities were positively correlated with total phenolic and flavonoid contents. The study revealed that antioxidant and α-amylase inhibitory activities of the crude extract were variable when extracted by different solvents indicating a high potential to be used as natural antioxidants in food preservation as well as for preventing oxidative stress mediated human disorders.

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Treatment complexities and the cytotoxicity of anticancer drugs to normal cells often results in therapeutic failure. Biodegradable nanoparticles have gained attention as drug carriers due to their physicochemical characteristics. Nanoparticles are able to encapsulate anticancer drugs and deliver them to target malignant cells while sparing normal cells. Since lung cancer usually arises in lung epithelium, localized drug delivery could be an alternative strategy to effectively treat this disease. Encapsulation of lung cancer drugs in nanoparticles may facilitate intact drug delivery, avoid first-pass metabolism, and reduce cytotoxicity to normal cells, as well as being attractive to patients. However, nanoparticles should be formulated in such a way as to facilitate entrance, deposition, retention, and permeability on targeted lung tissues and escape mucociliary clearance and phagocytosis. Additionally, the patient's diversity related to lung cancer type, stage of disease, and physical fitness should be considered when formulating a nanocarrier and a delivery device. The potential of localized drug delivery for lung cancer using nanoparticles is reviewed here.

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