Unlocking the potential of plant extracts: a comprehensive exploration from chemical characterization to versatile nutraceutical applications

The bibliographic data shown in the previous sections underlines the importance that nutraceuticals have today. Their development requires high knowledge in many areas. Consequently, research, applied to the world of nutraceuticals, takes on a central role. Only thanks to research is it possible to provide new solutions for the health of the population. The three-year doctoral project was conducted at the University of Camerino, precisely at the food chemistry laboratory of Professor Gianni Sagratini at CHIP (CHemistry Interdisciplinary Project), in collaboration with Indena. The research was focused on the development and application of analytical methods to characterize the metabolic profile of different plant species. The study was developed taking into account all the Indena principles, described so far, such as attention to nature, sustainability, and circular economy. To provide the population with winning alternatives from the plant world to improve their health. Two different paths were followed: on the one hand, various local products (Crithmum maritimum from Castelfidardo and Tuber magnatum from Acqualagna) were researched to evaluate their potential use in the nutraceutical field, on the other, already known medicinal plants (Agrimonia procera and eupatoria and Hypericum perforatum) were studied to increase their current use or propose new applications. Although during the doctorate the attention was focused on the analytical aspects of nutraceuticals development, other aspects were also seen such as the extraction of metabolites and some screening tests to evaluate the activity of the extracts. As demonstrated, the development of a nutraceutical requires a lot of knowledge starting from the botanical aspect up to the chemical and biological world. Thanks to the continuous support of Indena and collaborations with other universities it was possible to evaluate all these aspects for the various plants studied. The aim of my thesis was therefore followed through several objectives: - rediscovery of forgotten local plant species and study of medicinal plants that have been utilized for many years, - study of the literature to discover the state of the art on all identified plants, - choice and development of extraction, purification, and analysis methods. Furthermore, under the supervision of Professor Jana Hajslova and thanks to the collaboration with Ing. Anna Louckova during my research internship of 6 months at the Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, University of Chemistry and Technology (UCT), Prague, Czech Republic, it was possible to carry out metabolomics studies on medicinal plants. In this way, we apply innovative methods to further expand knowledge to develop nutraceuticals.