Finding a Needle in a Haystack: Producing Antimicrobial Cutin-Derived Oligomers from Tomato Pomace
Abstract
Agro-industrial residues comprise a rich diversity of plant
polymers and bioactive compounds, constituting promising sources for the
development of materials, including bioplastics, and food supplements,
among other applications. In particular, the polyester cutin is abundant in
fruit peel, a plentiful constituent of pomace agro-industrial residues. The
potential of diverse fruit pomaces as a source for the development of cutin-
derived materials/products has been extensively sought out. This study
expands the established knowledge: it sets proof of concept for the
production of antimicrobial oligomers from cutin-rich materials isolated in
a single step from tomato pomaces generated by two remote agro-
industries. Specifically, it first analyzed how the chemical signature (nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatography−mass spectrometry
(GC−MS)) of a pomace (and of its major constituents) mirrors that of the
corresponding cutin-rich material isolated using an ionic liquid extractant. The cutin-rich materials were then deconstructed (using
mild hydrolyses), and the resultant mixtures were chemically characterized and screened for bactericidal activity against Escherichia
coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The presence of esterified structures, linear and/or branched, likely comprising dioic acids as a major
building block (but not exclusively) is a prerequisite for activity against E. coli but not against S. aureus that was susceptible to
monomers as well. Further studies are required to optimize the production of broad bactericidal oligomers from any cutin-rich
pomace source, moving ahead toward their circular usage.
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