According to the United Nations (UN), although cities occupy only 3% of Earth’s surface, they host more than half of the global population, are responsible for 70% of energy consumption, and 75% of ...carbon emissions. All this is a consequence of the massive urbanization verified since the 1950s and which is expected to continue in the coming decades. A crucial issue will therefore concern the management of existing cities and the planning of future ones, and this was also emphasized by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and communities). Smart Cities are often seen as ideal urban environments in which the different dimensions of a city (economy, education, energy, environment, etc.) are managed successfully and proactively. So, one of the most important challenges cities will have to face, is to guide citizens towards a form of “clean” energy consumption, and the dimension on which decision-makers will be able to work is the decarbonization of transport. To achieve this, electric mobility could help reduce polluting emissions on the road. Within this research, the strategies that six Smart Cities (London, Hamburg, Oslo, Milan, Florence, and Bologna) have implemented to encourage the transition to this form of mobility have been studied. Through a systematic review of the literature (Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) and through the study of the main political/energy documents of the cities, their policies on electric mobility have been evaluated. Then, for each city, SDG 11.6.2 was analyzed to assess the air quality in the last four years (2016–2019) and, therefore, the effectiveness of the policies. The analysis showed, in general, that the policies have worked, inducing reductions in the pollutants of PM2.5, PM10, NO2. In particular, the cities showed the most significant reduction in pollutant (above 20%) were Hamburg (−28% PM2.5 and −2%6 NO2), Milan (−25% PM2.5 and −52% NO2), and London (−26% NO2).
Scientific research in the nanomaterials field is constantly evolving, making it possible to develop new materials and above all to find new applications. Therefore, nanoparticles (NPs) are suitable ...for different applications: nanomedicine, drug delivery, sensors, optoelectronics and food control. This review explores the recent trend in food control of using noble metallic nanoparticles as determination tools. Two major uses of NPs in food control have been found: the determination of contaminants and bioactive compounds. Applications were found for the determination of mycotoxins, pesticides, drug residues, allergens, probable carcinogenic compounds, bacteria, amino acids, gluten and antioxidants. The new developed methods are competitive for their use in food control, demonstrated by their validation and application to real samples.
•A fast HPLC determination of 11 biogenic amines in food has been described.•A new technology core–shell particle column has been used with UV and FLD detection.•This is the first article reporting ...the analysis of biogenic amines in fruit nectar.•The developed method resulted in a significant saving of analysis time and solvents.
A fast and reliable HPLC method for the determination of 11 biogenic amines in beverages has been performed. After pre-column derivatization with dansyl-chloride a Kinetex C18 core–shell particle column (100mm×4.6mm, 2.6μm particle size) has been employed and the biogenic amines were identified and quantified in a total run time of 13min with ultraviolet (UV) or fluorescence detection (FLD). Chromatographic conditions such as column temperature (kept at 50°C), gradient elution and flow rate have been optimized and the method has been tested on red wine and fruit nectar. The proposed method is enhanced in terms of reduced analysis time and eluent consumption with respect of classical HPLC method as to be comparable to UHPLC methods. Green and cost-effective, this method can be used as a quality-control tool for routine quantitative analysis of biogenic amines in beverages for the average laboratory.
► Fructose content is determined in honey and beverages with no interferences. ► The biosensor method is rapid, simple with no sample pretreatment required. ► A highly original osmium polymer is used ...as biosensor mediator. ► A biosensor based on a carbon nanotube paste electrode is proposed.
This paper describes the development and performance of a new rapid amperometric biosensor for fructose monitoring in food analysis. The biosensor is based on the activity of fructose dehydrogenase (FDH) immobilised into a carbon nanotube paste electrode according to two different procedures. The direct wiring of the FDH in a highly original osmium-polymer hydrogel was found to offer a better enzyme entrapment compared to the immobilisation of the enzyme in an albumin hydrogel. The optimised biosensor required only 5U of FDH and kept the 80% of its initial sensitivity after 4months. During this time, the biosensor showed a detection limit for fructose of 1μM, a large linear range between 0.1 and 5mM, a high sensitivity (1.95μAcm−2mM), good reproducibility (RSD=2.1%) and a fast response time (4s).
Finally, the biosensor was applied for specific determination of fructose in honey, fruit juices, soft and energy drinks. The results indicated a very good agreement with those obtained with a commercial reference kit. No significant interference was observed with the proposed biosensor.
Biogenic amines are ubiquitous bioactive compounds that are synthesized by living organisms and perform essential functions for their metabolism. In the human diet, their excessive intake can cause ...food poisoning. In food, especially in alcohol-free beverages, biogenic amines can be synthesized by enzymes, naturally present in raw materials, or by microorganisms, which may be naturally present in the matrix or be added during beverage transformation processes. For this reason, in alcohol-free beverages, biogenic amine amount can be considered, above a certain level, as undesired microorganism activity. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the biogenic amine profile of non-alcoholic beverages in order to monitor food quality and safety. Moreover, biogenic amines can be taken into account by industries in order to monitor production processes and products. This review article provides an overview on the biogenic amine profile of alcohol-free beverages (plant milk, nervine drinks, soft drinks, and fruit juices). Furthermore, the clinical and toxicological effects, the biogenic amines legislation, and biogenic amine synthesis have been evaluated in non-alcoholic beverages.
Effects of boiling and steaming cooking methods were studied on total polyphenols, antioxidant capacity, and biogenic amines of three green bean varieties, purple, yellow, and green. The vegetables ...gave good values both for antioxidant capacity and for phenolics content, with the purple variety being the richest in healthful components. Both the heat treatments affected the antioxidant properties of these vegetables, with boiling that reduced the initial antioxidant capacity till 30% in the yellow variety, having the same trend for total polyphenols, with the major decrement of 43% in the green variety. On the contrary, biogenic amines significantly increased only after boiling in green and yellow variety, while purple variety did not show any changes in biogenic amines after cooking. The steaming method showed being better cooking approach in order to preserve the antioxidant properties of green beans varieties and to maintain the biogenic amines content at the lowest level.
As of 2035, the European Union has ratified the obligation to register only zero-emission cars, including ultra-low-emission vehicles (ULEVs). In this context, electric mobility fits in, which, ...however, presents the critical issue of the over-exploitation of critical raw materials (CRMs). An interesting solution to reduce this burden could be the so-called second life, in which batteries that are no longer able to guarantee high performance in vehicles are used for other applications that do not require high performance, such as so-called stationary systems, effectively avoiding new over-exploitation of resources. In this study, therefore, the environmental impacts of second-life lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries are verified using a life cycle perspective, taking a second life project as a case study. The results show how, through the second life, GWP could be reduced by −5.06 × 101 kg CO2 eq/kWh, TEC by −3.79 × 100 kg 1.4 DCB eq/kWh, HNCT by −3.46 × 100 kg 1.4 DCB eq/kWh, −3.88 × 100 m2a crop eq/kWh, and −1.12 × 101 kg oil eq/kWh. It is further shown how second life is potentially preferable to other forms of recycling, such as hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical recycling, as it shows lower environmental impacts in all impact categories, with environmental benefits of, for example, −1.19 × 101 kg CO2 eq/kWh (compared to hydrometallurgical recycling) and −1.50 × 101 kg CO2 eq/kWh (pyrometallurgical recycling), −3.33 × 102 kg 1.4 DCB eq/kWh (hydrometallurgical), and −3.26 × 102 kg 1.4 DCB eq/kWh (pyrometallurgical), or −3.71 × 100 kg oil eq/kWh (hydrometallurgical) and −4.56 × 100 kg oil eq/kWh (pyrometallurgical). By extending the service life of spent batteries, it may therefore be possible to extract additional value while minimizing emissions and the over-exploitation of resources.
The chemical composition of the inflorescences from four
L. monoecious cultivars (Ferimon, Uso-31, Felina 32 and Fedora 17), recently introduced in the Lazio Region, was monitored over the season ...from June to September giving indications on their sensorial, pharmaceutical/nutraceutical proprieties. Both untargeted (NMR) and targeted (GC/MS, UHPLC, HPLC-PDA/FD and spectrophotometry) analyses were carried out to identify and quantify compounds of different classes (sugars, organic acids, amino acids, cannabinoids, terpenoids, phenols, tannins, flavonoids and biogenic amines). All cultivars in each harvesting period showed a THC content below the Italian legal limit, although in general THC content increased over the season. Citric acid, malic acid and glucose showed the highest content in the late flowering period, whereas the content of proline drastically decreased after June in all cultivars. Neophytadiene, nerolidol and chlorogenic acid were quantified only in Felina 32 cultivar, characterized also by a very high content of flavonoids, whereas alloaromadendrene and
-cinnamic acid were detected only in Uso-31 cultivar. Naringenin and naringin were present only in Fedora 17 and Ferimon cultivars, respectively. Moreover, Ferimon had the highest concentration of biogenic amines, especially in July and August. Cadaverine was present in all cultivars but only in September. These results suggest that the chemical composition of
L. inflorescences depends on the cultivar and on the harvesting period. Producers can use this information as a guide to obtain inflorescences with peculiar chemical characteristics according to the specific use.
The chemical profile of the female inflorescence extracts from seven
L. dioecious cultivars (Carmagnola, Fibranova, Eletta Campana, Antal, Tiborszallasi, Kompolti, and Tisza) was monitored at three ...harvesting stages (4, 14, and 30 September), reaching from the beginning of flowering to end of flowering/beginning of seed formation, using untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and targeted (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and spectrophotometry) analyses. The tetrahydrocannabinol content was always below the legal limits (<0.6%) in all the analyzed samples. The NMR metabolite profile (sugars, organic acids, amino acids, and minor compounds) subjected to principal components analysis (PCA) showed a strong variability according to the harvesting stages: samples harvested in stage I were characterized by a high content of sucrose and myo-inositol, whereas the ones harvested in stage II showed high levels of succinic acid, alanine, valine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and threonine. Samples harvested in stage III were characterized by high levels of glucose, fructose, choline, trigonelline, malic acid, formic acid, and some amino acids. The ratio between chlorophylls and carotenoids content indicated that all plants grew up exposed to the sun, the Eletta Campana cultivar having the highest pigment amount. Tiborszallasi cultivar showed the highest polyphenol content. The highest antioxidant activity was generally observed in stage II. All these results suggested that the
L. inflorescences of each analyzed dioecious hemp cultivar presented a peculiar chemical profile affected by the harvesting stage. This information could be useful for producers and industries to harvest inflorescences in the appropriate stage to obtain samples with a peculiar chemical profile suitable for proper applications.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide, mainly due to its organoleptic, and psychoactive properties. Coffee brewing techniques involve the use of different extraction/infusion ...conditions (i.e., time, temperature, pressure, water/powder ratio, etc.), which can influence the quality of the final product. The study aimed to analyze the effect of four brewing coffee techniques (industrial espresso machine, Moka machine, pod machine, and capsule machine), which are the most used coffee brewing methods in Italy, on the quality and safety of the coffee brews, taking into account the profile of biogenic amines (BAs), total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and anti-radical activity (DPPH and ABTS assay). Eight coffee powders and brewed beverages from two different brands belonging to the 100% Arabica variety (country of origin Brazil) were analysed. The brewing techniques all resulted in a reduction of both BA content (27–30%), TPC (55–60%), TFC (50–55%), and anti-radical assays (45–50%) in coffee beverages compared to ground coffee samples. The study also showed that Moka is the method that yields the highest TPC (2.71–3.52 mg GAE/g coffee powder) and TFC (8.50–8.60 mg RUT/g coffee powder) content and highest anti-radical capacity in coffee beverages. The multivariate statistical analysis revealed a difference between coffee powder and infusions and coffee infusions obtained by different extraction techniques. Moreover, an analysis of the environmental impacts related to the different coffee preparation methods examined was conducted. This was performed by applying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology through SimaPro v.9.2.2. software.
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