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The chestnut tree ( Castanea sativa Mill.) is a widespread plant in Europe, rich in high-value compounds, which can be divided mainly into monomeric polyphenols and tannins. These compounds exhibit various biological activities, such as antioxidant, as well as anticarcinogenic and antimicrobial properties. Chestnut wood (CW) extracts were prepared using different extraction techniques, process conditions, solvents, and their mixtures. This work aimed to test various extraction techniques and determine the optimal solvent for isolating enriched fractions of vescalagin, castalagin, vescalin, and castalin from CW residues. Supercritical CO 2 extraction with a more polar cosolvent was applied at different pressures, which influenced solvent density. According to the results, the proportions of the components strongly depended on the solvent system used for the extraction. In addition, HPLC-DAD was used for semiqualitative purposes to detect vescalagin, castalagin, vescalin, and castalin. The developed valorization protocol allows efficient fractionation and recovery of the polyphenolic components of CW through a sustainable approach that also evaluates pre-industrial scaling-up.

Alternative technologies for a more sustainable wine spirits' ageing have been studied but a lack of knowledge on the effect of oxygenation level remains. This work examined the behaviour of low molecular weight compounds, iron and copper of a wine spirit aged in 50 L demijohns with chestnut wood staves combined with three levels of micro-oxygenation or nitrogen. Compounds and mineral elements were quantified by HPLC and FAAS, respectively, in samples collected at 8, 21, 60, 180, 270 and 365 days of ageing. Results showed that most of the compounds underwent significant changes in their content over time and behave differently depending on the wine spirit's oxygenation level: higher contents of gallic acid, syringic acid and vanillin were associated with lower micro-oxygenation level while higher contents of ellagic acid, syringaldehyde, coniferaldehyde and sinapaldehyde resulted from higher one; lowest contents of these compounds were found in the nitrogen modality. Weak correlation between copper and the studied compounds was evidenced whereas closer relationship between iron, vanillin, gallic, syringic and ellagic acids at end of ageing was observed. This study provides innovative information on the role of oxygen in wine spirit's ageing, and on chestnut wood effect on wine spirit's mineral composition.

The aim of this work is to study the colour and chemical modifications of the surfaces in chestnut wood samples as a consequence of irradiating in a controlled environment. The changes were investigated by a new analytical approach by combining traditional techniques such as reflectance spectrophotometry in the visible range and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with new hyperspectral imaging, in order to obtain forecast models to describe the phenomenon. The statistical elaboration of the experimental data allowed to validate the measurements and to obtain models enabling to relate the investigated parameters; the elaboration of the hyperspectral images by chemometric methods allowed for studying the changes in the reflectance spectra. A result of great importance is the possibility to correlate the oxidation of wood chemical components with the colour change in a totally non-invasive modality. This result is particularly relevant in the field of cultural heritage and in general in the control processes of wooden materials.

The chestnut tree (Castanea sativa, Mill.) is a widespread plant in Europe whose fruits and wood has a relevant economic impact. Chestnut wood (CW) is rich in high-value compounds that exhibit various biological activities, such as antioxidant as well as anticarcinogenic and antimicrobial properties. These metabolites can be mainly divided into monomeric polyphenols and tannins. In this piece of work, we investigated a sustainable protocol to isolate enriched fractions of the above-mentioned compounds from CW residues. Specifically, a sequential extraction protocol, using subcritical water, was used as a pre-fractionation step, recovering approximately 88% of tannins and 40% of monomeric polyphenols in the first and second steps, respectively. The optimized protocol was also tested at pre-industrial levels, treating up to 13.5 kg CW and 160 L of solution with encouraging results. Ultra- and nanofiltrations were used to further enrich the recovered fractions, achieving more than 98% of the tannin content in the heavy fraction, whilst the removed permeate achieved up to 752.71 mg GAE/gext after the concentration (75.3%). Samples were characterized by means of total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity (DPPH· and ABTS·), and tannin composition (hydrolysable and condensed). In addition, LC-MS-DAD was used for semiqualitative purposes to detect vescalagin/castalagin and vescalin/castalin, as well as gallic acid and ellagic acid. The developed valorization protocol allows the efficient fractionation and recovery of the major polyphenolic components of CW with a sustainable approach that also evaluates pre-industrial scaling-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ellagic acid (EA) has long been recognized as a very active antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial agent. However, its low bioavailability has often hampered its applications in health-related fields. Here, we report a phospholipid vesicle-based controlled release system for EA, involving the exploitation of chestnut wood mud (CWM), an industrial by-product from chestnut tannin production, as a largely available and low-cost source of this compound. Two kinds of CWM with different particle size distributions, indicated as CWM-A and CWM-B (<100 and 32 µm, respectively), containing 5 ± 1% w/w EA, were incorporated into transfersomes. The latter were small in size (~100 nm), homogeneously dispersed, and negatively charged. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assays indicated up to three-fold improvement in the antioxidant properties of CWM upon incorporation into transfersomes. The kinetics of EA released under simulated physiological conditions were evaluated by UV-Vis spectroscopy and HPLC analysis. The best results were obtained with CWM-B (100% of EA gradually released after 37 days at pH 7.4). A stepwise increase in the antioxidant properties of the released material was also observed. Cell-based experiments confirmed the efficacy of CWM-B transfersomes as antioxidant agents in contrasting photodamage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the evaluation of the strength and stiffness of chestnut wood, in tension and compression parallel to the grain, using different non-destructive techniques (ultrasounds, Resistograph® and Pilodyn 6J). Approximately 200 timber specimens (divided into compression and tension tests) were tested up to failure, comprising recently sawn timber (which is now available on the market for structural purposes) and what was called old wood, obtained from structural elements belonging to ancient buildings. The possibility of predicting wood properties by application of non-destructive techniques is discussed based on simple linear regression models. Extrapolation of regression models obtained from recent cut wooden material to that obtained from old timber beams is analyzed. The results show reasonable correlations between mechanical elastic properties and non-destructive techniques (ultrasounds, Resistograph® and Pilodyn 6J). New and old wood mechanical data exhibited a scattered cloud of points, implying in terms of assessment of properties of timber elements in service by regression models that these models should not be supported only on data from recently sawn wood. Therefore, models combining information from new and old wood specimens are proposed based on lower 95% confidence limits of regression lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper addresses the evaluation of the compressive properties of chestnut wood under compression perpendicular to the grain, using destructive and non-destructive methods. Three non-destructive methods (ultrasonic testing, Resistograph and Pilodyn) are proposed and the possibility of their application is discussed based on the application of simple linear regression models. Timber specimens were tested up to failure, divided in two different groups for assessing a possible load history related degradation, namely New Chestnut Wood (NCW), never been used structurally, and Old Chestnut Wood (OCW), obtained from structural elements belonging to ancient buildings. The specimens were also divided into four groups according to the orientation of annual growth rings towards load and wave propagation direction. The results show, in general, good correlations between compression strength and stiffness with non-destructive techniques via ultrasonic testing, Resistograph and Pilodyn. However, the orientation of the loading direction with respect to the annual growth rings must be taken into account. This conclusion, and the observation that NCW and OCW shows correlations and regression models usually different, add additional complexity to the quantitative use of non-destructive evaluation techniques for the assessment of the mechanical behaviour of timber elements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study determined the influence of the kind of wood (Allier vs Limousin and Allier vs chestnut), the age (new vs 1 year old Allier oak barriques) and the volume (1000 L vs 225 L ) of Allier oak containers on sensorial profile and volatile composition of a red Sangiovese wine during 360 days of ageing. The greatest sensory differences were found between Allier oak wood and chestnut wood barriques. In chestnut barriques, wines were more fruited and tannic than in Allier where wines were less astringent, more vanilla flavoured and well-balanced. Some differences in chemical composition and sensorial profile were observed in wines aged in used containers with different capacities. The use of containers showed that migration phenomena from wood to wine were more intense in new barriques than in used ones. Therefore, wines aged in new barriques were richer in volatile wood compounds than wines aged in old barriques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]