Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-252 Bragança, Portugal.
Laboratório Associado para a Sustentabilidade em Regiões de Montanha (SusTEC), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-252 Bragança, Portugal.
Molecules. 2024 Sep 30;29(19):4660. doi: 10.3390/molecules29194660.
The global demand for sustainable and non-toxic alternatives across various industries is driving the exploration of naturally derived solutions. Hydrosols, also known as hydrolates, represent a promising yet underutilised byproduct of the extraction process of essential oils (EOs). These aqueous solutions contain a complex mixture of EO traces and water-soluble compounds and exhibit significant biological activity. To fully use these new solutions, it is necessary to understand how factors, such as distillation time and plant-to-water ratio, affect their chemical composition and biological activity. Such insights are crucial for the standardisation and quality control of hydrosols. Hydrosols have demonstrated noteworthy properties as natural antimicrobials, capable of preventing biofilm formation, and as antioxidants, mitigating oxidative stress. These characteristics position hydrosols as versatile ingredients for various applications, including biopesticides, preservatives, food additives, anti-browning agents, pharmaceutical antibiotics, cosmetic bioactives, and even anti-tumour agents in medical treatments. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of these activities is also essential for advancing their use. In this context, this review compiles and analyses the current literature on hydrosols' chemical and biological properties, highlighting their potential applications and envisioning future research directions. These developments are consistent with a circular bio-based economy, where an industrial byproduct derived from biological sources is repurposed for new applications.
全球各行业对可持续和无毒替代品的需求推动了对天然衍生解决方案的探索。水醇提物，也称为水蒸馏物，是精油（EO）提取过程中一种有前景但尚未充分利用的副产物。这些水溶液含有 EO 痕迹和水溶性化合物的复杂混合物，并表现出显著的生物活性。为了充分利用这些新的解决方案，有必要了解蒸馏时间和植物与水的比例等因素如何影响它们的化学成分和生物活性。这些见解对于水醇提物的标准化和质量控制至关重要。水醇提物已被证明具有作为天然抗菌剂的显著特性，能够防止生物膜形成，并且具有抗氧化作用，可减轻氧化应激。这些特性使水醇提物成为各种应用的多功能成分，包括生物农药、防腐剂、食品添加剂、抗褐变剂、药用抗生素、化妆品生物活性物质，甚至在医疗中作为抗癌药物。了解这些活性的潜在机制对于推进其应用也至关重要。在这种情况下，本综述汇总和分析了关于水醇提物化学和生物学特性的现有文献，强调了它们的潜在应用，并展望了未来的研究方向。这些发展符合循环生物基经济的理念，即从生物来源衍生的工业副产品被重新用于新的应用。
