Fuso Andrea, Risso Davide, Rosso Ginevra, Rosso Franco, Manini Federica, Manera Ileana, Caligiani Augusta
Food and Drug Department, University of Parma, Via Parco Area delle Scienze 17/A, 43124 Parma, Italy.
Soremartec Italia Srl, Ferrero Group, 12051 Alba, Italy.
Foods. 2021 May 26;10(6):1197. doi: 10.3390/foods10061197.
Hazelnuts are one of the most widely consumed nuts, but their production creates large quantities of by-products, especially shells, that could be upcycled into much more valuable products. Recent studies have shown that hazelnut shell hemicellulose is particularly rich in compounds that are potential precursors of xylooligosaccharides and arabino-xylooligosaccharides ((A)XOS), previously defined as emerging prebiotics very beneficial for human health. The production of these compounds on an industrial scale-up could have big consequences on the functional foods market. However, to produce (A)XOS from a lignocellulosic biomass, such as hazelnut shell, is not easy. Many methods for the extraction and the purification of these prebiotics have been developed, but they all have different efficiencies and consequences, including on the chemical structure of the obtained (A)XOS. The latter, in turn, is strongly correlated to the nutritional effects they have on health, which is why the optimization of the structural characterization process is also necessary. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the progress made by research in this field, so as to contribute to the exploitation of hazelnut waste streams through a circular economy approach, increasing the value of this biomass through the production of new functional ingredients.
榛子是消费最为广泛的坚果之一，但其生产过程会产生大量副产品，尤其是果壳，而这些果壳可以升级转化为更有价值的产品。最近的研究表明，榛子壳半纤维素富含多种化合物，这些化合物是低聚木糖和阿拉伯糖基低聚木糖（(A)XOS）的潜在前体，(A)XOS此前被定义为对人体健康非常有益的新型益生元。这些化合物的工业化大规模生产可能会对功能性食品市场产生重大影响。然而，要从木质纤维素生物质（如榛子壳）中生产(A)XOS并非易事。人们已经开发出许多提取和纯化这些益生元的方法，但它们的效率和影响各不相同，包括对所得(A)XOS化学结构的影响。而(A)XOS的化学结构又与它们对健康的营养作用密切相关，这就是为什么优化结构表征过程也很有必要。因此，本综述旨在总结该领域研究取得的进展，以便通过循环经济方法促进榛子废物流的开发利用，通过生产新的功能性成分提高这种生物质的价值。
