TRANSFER OF ANALYTICAL METHODS FOR THE CHARACTERISATION OF NATURAL PRODUCTS TO R&D PROCESSES OF IDOKI

IDOKI SCF Technologies S.L. is a technology-based company, set up on September 2006 in Derio (Biscay) with the main scope of developing extraction and purification processes based on the use of supercritical fluid extraction technology (SFE) in food processing, extraction of natural products and the production of personal care products. IDOKI¿s researchers have been working on many different R&D projects so far, most of them using this technology. However, the optimization of a SFE method for the different matrices cannot be performed unless we have an analytical method for the characterisation of the extracts obtained in each experiment. The analytical methods are also essential for the quality control of the raw materials that are going to be used and also for the final product. This PhD thesis was born to tackle this problem and therefore, it is based on the development of different analytical methods for the characterisation of the extracts and products. The projects that we could include in this thesis were the following: the extraction propolis, the recovery of agroindustrial residues (soy and wine) and the dealcoholisation of wine.On the one hand, for the extraction of propolis, several UV-Vis spectroscopic methods were used in order to measure the antioxidant capacity and the total polyphenol and flavonoid content of the extracts. A SFC method was also developed in order to measure more specific phenolic compounds. On the other hand, for the recovery of agroindustrial residues UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to determine the total polyphenol content and two SFC methods were developed to analyse different phenolic compounds. Extraction methods such as MAE, FUSE and rotary agitation were also evaluated for the characterisation of the raw materials.Finally, for the dealcoholisation of wine, the development of a SBSE-TD-GC-MS and DHS-TD-GC-MS methods for the analysis of aromas and a NIR spectroscopic method for the determination of ethanol content with the help of chemometrics was necessary. Most of these methods are typically used in IDOKI¿s lab as routine analyses apart from others not included in this PhD thesis.

Online journalism: research methods. A multidisciplinary approach in comparative perspective

Journalism on digital networks, and specifically on Internet, is a relatively recent phenomenon, whose spread began in approximately 1994, in parallel to that of the World Wide Web. Study of this new communicative phenomenon began simultaneously in several countries. This, in its turn, was helped by the new possibilities for communication amongst academics - electronic mail, predating the WWW, was, and is, one of the most widely used tools of the university community. The spread of these new forms of global communication helped to raise mutual awareness between research groups, making it possible to form increasingly broad and cohesive networks.

LC-MS based methods for phytosterols determination in oenological matrices. Targeted metabolomic study of Rioja grape varieties

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Methods and tools for the assessment of daylight transmittance through expanded metal meshes

306 p.