Persea americana (avocado) is a fruit consumed worldwide; however, since avocado leaves are apparently a natural ingredient that can be used as a traditional medicine, they can be a potential source of bioactive compounds. This study aimed to analyze the antioxidant activity of seven Mexican avocado leaf extracts by DPPH•, ABTS•+, and lipid peroxidation (LPO), and to identify the compound profile by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry/electron spray ionization. The highest free radical-scavenging activity was observed for Platano Delgado and Criollo 6 avocado cultivars havin IC50 values of 271.86 ± 13.69 and 269.56 ± 6.53 for DPPH• and ABTS•+ radicals, respectively, while the best result for lipid oxidation inhibition was registered in Criollo 6 cultivar extract. In this study forty-one compounds were detected in avocado leaves of the the seven cultivars analyzed, and of these compounds, eighteen phenolics were identified for first time in such plant material. The present study demonstrated that Mexican cultivars of Persea americana possess diverse polyphenolic compounds with strong antioxidant activity, which might be useful in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

The selection of solvents in the chemical industry is typically based on performance and economic considerations. Other relevant aspects, such as the safety implications of a given solvent, are generally left for consideration after the design of the process has been completed. In this work, an approach for solvent selection including safety considerations at the design stage of the process is presented. The safety component is included through a consequence analysis using an average distance for the risk of death as the major parameter. The approach is applied to the design of extractive distillation systems, for which a preselection step for the solvent is used, followed by the formulation of a multiobjective optimization problem in which both economic and safety aspects are taken into account. The approach is applied for the purification of bioethanol, for which solvents that offer the best cost–safety compromise are identified.

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