Orange orchards are typical Mediterranean crops and a major feature of the heritage of the Mediterranean basin, where they play an important environmental and economic role. Their high availability, low price, and potential industrial application make the development of new and valuable uses of the orange's biomass of high interest. This research was focused: (i) on recognition and mapping of orange cultivation in the Basilicata region; (ii) on the evaluation of the antioxidant capacity of extracts;These authors contributed equally to this work. 510MR Bruno et al.In the Field: Chemical characterization of orange biomass (iii) on identification of extractives' traits. To achieve these objectives, the anti-oxidative properties and chemical compounds of the extracts from orange orchard biomass were analyzed. Different extraction techniques were applied, including maceration, ultrasound-assisted extraction, accelerated solvent extraction, and autoclaving. Results demonstrated the potential antioxidant activity of the bark and wood of orange-tree biomass, which has not been investigated before. The relative antioxidant capacity index showed that bark extracts were more effective than wood ones, and accelerated solvent extraction was the most effective process for recovering antioxidants. Chemical characterization by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) showed the presence of different natural compounds, including caffeic acid, alkaloids, and flavonoids. The development of innovative applications that use biomass derivatives could lead to their possible use in the market as a commodity for the chemical or cosmetic industries, giving new added value to the current use of biomass from agricultural practices. Through multi-criteria analysis it was possible to recognize the sustainability of these cropping models and their ecological function, using them for the preservation of environmental resources, environmental quality, and quality of life.

In recent years, bio-based wood adhesives have gained an increased industrial and research interest as an environmentally friendly and renewable alternative to the commercial petroleum-based synthetic adhesives used in the wood-based industry. Due to its renewability, abundance, relatively low price, and good adhesion properties, starch is a promising natural feedstock for synthesizing bio-based adhesives for wood-based composites. This review aims to summarize the recent advances in developing sustainable starch-based wood adhesives for manufacturing non-toxic, low-emission wood composites with enhanced properties and lower environmental impact. Recent developments in starch modification, physical, and enzymatic treatments applied to improve the performance of starch-based wood adhesives, mainly in terms of improving their water resistance and bonding strength, are also outlined and discussed.

Extensive research projects have been carried out on thermal modification of wood material, yet thermal properties of thermally modified poplar wood have not been comprehensively investigated. Black poplar (Populus nigra L.) is a Eurasian species native to Italy which is rarely used for the production of highperformance products, though it is one of the least expensive hardwoods on the market. To explore alternative applications of poplar wood such as building facade or fire resistance materials, reliable data of thermal behaviour of thermally modified wood at high temperatures are needed. In this work, the thermal behaviour of native black poplar wood after thermal modification at different temperatures (180 °C, 200 °C and 220 °C) was analyzed. Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and porosity were measured on poplar wood boards, as well as mass loss and wood color changes after heat treatment were quantified. Thermal conductivity of wood samples showed significant changes after treatment at 200 and 220 °C, but not at 180 °C. Wood porosity showed significant differences with the control when the samples were modified at a temperature of 220 °C. Increasing color differences were observed in wood samples by increasing the thermal modification temperature. Also, the mass loss of wood samples increased and equilibrium moisture content significantly dropped down after thermal modification. Our results showed that the use of thermally-modified black poplar wood could be considered as a viable alternative to chemically treated wood products for specific applications where high insulation is needed, such as saunas or windows, and for façades elements.

The need to produce an ever-increasing quantity of material products and food resulting from the planet globalization process has contributed to the spread of modern agriculture based on a linear production resulting in the generation of tons of waste. This huge amount of waste is generally accumulated in landfills, causing different environmental problems. Hence, researchers moved on to study the processes used to recover agro-industrial by-products within a circular and sustainable bio-economy concept. A systematic quest on Scopus and PubMed databases was performed to identify the data available to date on recycling agro-industrial by-products of Olea europaea L. This systematic review summarizes the knowledge regarding the use of olive trees by-products for producing animal feed, biocomposites, bioethanol, cellulose pulp, activated carbon, and as a fuel source for energy production. Furthermore, the data regarding the potential biological activity of extracts from olive roots, wood, bark, and pruning were analyzed. Olive trees by-products are, indeed, rich in molecules with antioxidant, antimicrobial, cardioprotective, and anticancer activity, representing a promising candidate for treat several human diseases.

The sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) are wood species largely present in the European forest area. The composition and relative variation of the secondary metabolites of chestnut and European beech wood under thermal effect is a little-explored area. The wood material was thermally modified at 170 °C for 3 h using a thermo-vacuum technology. Raw and modified wood extracts were obtained with aqueous extraction techniques in an autoclave, subsequently lyophilized, solubilized in ethyl acetate, and determined by Gas Chromatographic-Mass Spectrometric Analyses (GC-MS). In addition, the volatile compounds were determined by Solid-Phase Micro Extraction (SPME) analyses. As a general statement, the extraction in an autoclave produced a higher number of compounds in the modified chestnut and beech wood compared to unmodified wood material. Beech wood showed low degradation in the compounds after modification. Notably, squalene and ar-tumerone were the main bioactive compounds present in beech wood extractives. Chestnut, conversely, showed a greater degradation after thermo-modification. However, a reduction in chemical compounds in the modified samples was also observed. In this case, the main biologically active compounds detected only in the chestnut control samples were apocynin and ar-tumerone. The recovery of this residual wood material, before energy consumption, could provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly means of obtaining natural chemicals suitable for various industrial applications.

The aim of this research was to evaluate the multiple effects of both thermal modification and alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) on the deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara Roxb.) wood surface, before and after an irradiation test. The physical and chemical changes that occurred on the cedar wood samples due to the combined effect of these modifications were evaluated by measuring their wettability and colour and using attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. The surface analysis by XPS showed the expected variability among the sampled layers for unmodified and thermally modified cedar wood samples and a uniform composition after the AKD coverage, regardless of their pre-treatments. The FTIR spectra before the irradiation test showed that the hydrophobicity of the samples was ensured by the formation of carbonyl groups originating from the reaction between the AKD and hydroxyl groups of cellulose, which is related to the presence of the absorption band between 1700 cm−1 and 1750 cm−1. Markedly, after the irradiation test, a degradation of the amorphous cellulose component occurred, showing that photoisomerisation to the enolic form took place. Overall, although uniform AKD coverage was derived from the surface analysis and wetting test, the combined ATR-FTIR results and colour measurements showed that it could not provide permanent protection to the underlying wood structure due to its own tendency to degrade mainly in colour over time, under the action of UV rays and atmospheric agents.