[Thesis defence] 10/10/2024 - Christian Cravatto: "2-methyloxolane as a green solvent for the eco-extraction of primary and secondary metabolites from plants". (UMR SQPOV)

Mr Christian CRAVOTTO will publicly defend his thesis entitled: "2-methyloxolane as a green solvent for the eco-extraction of primary and secondary metabolites from plants" on Thursday 10 October 2024.

Laboratory

UMR_A 408 SQPOV - Safety and Quality of Plant Products

Composition of the jury

Ms ANNE-SYLVIE TIXIER	Avignon University, INRAE, UMR SQPOV, F-84000 Avignon, France	Thesis supervisor
Ms Silvia TABASSO	Università degli Studi di Torino	Thesis co-director
Ms Patrizia PEREGO	Università degli Studi di Genova	Rapporteur
Mr Jean-Marc LEVEQUE	University of Savoie Mont-Blanc	Examiner
Mr Antonio PROCOPIO	Università Magna Graecia di Catanzaro	Rapporteur
Ms Laurence LAURENCE JACQUES	Company: EcoXtract	Guest

Summary

The growing demand for sustainable industrial processes has led to extensive research into green chemistry and innovative extraction processes. Conventional processes, which often rely on toxic solvents that are harmful to the environment, are increasingly being replaced by more environmentally-friendly alternatives. In this context, 2-methyloxolane (2-MeOx) has emerged as a promising green solvent that is attracting a great deal of interest due to its favourable properties and potential applications in a variety of industries, including food and feed production. An important milestone in the adoption of 2-MeOx was reached in January 2023 when it was officially added to the list of solvents authorised for food production in Europe (Directive 2009/32/EC). This recognition underlines its growing acceptance and potential for large-scale industrial use. This work is dedicated to a comprehensive evaluation of 2-methyloxolane as a green solvent for the extraction of natural products, with a particular focus on oilseeds and other plant materials. Through a series of studies carried out at laboratory, pilot and semi-industrial scales, the efficiency and practical applications of 2-MeOx are examined. In addition, this work addresses the optimisation of extraction, the recovery of high-value secondary metabolites and the evaluation of various post-extraction processes.

Keywords 2-Methyloxolane,vegetable oils,green solvent,secondary metabolites,process scalability,process optimisation