Antioxidant capacity and phenol content of Fraxinus angustifolia leaf and bark extracts

Tree of Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl. subsp. angustifolia from Nefza

The ultimate objectives of this work were to find new potential sources of natural antioxidants agents in the food industry. This study is the first to investigate secondary metabolites and biological activities of barks and leaves of Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl. subsp. angustifolia (Oleaceae), Tunisian native tree, from two provenances (Béja and Nefza) were investigated using two solvents extracts (ethanol and distilled water). 


Consume chestnut all year? The potential of processed products

Marron - Oficina da Castanha

Chestnut is a seasonal nut only produced in some regions of Portugal. It is a product whose value is very scattered across the various elements of the marketing chain, with little, and very concentrated in time, internal consumption. It is, therefore, vital to increase and retain its added value and make this market less dependent on the seasonality of the fruit. One way is by promoting new forms of consumption in and out of season, through the processing and innovative uses of the chestnut.


Pietra : a brand success that brings Corsican identity

Pietra brewery

The objective of the project was to create a Corsican beer that could be recognised by fine beer lovers, a high-end product that is also thirst-quenching in order to adapt to the Mediterranean climate. This beer had to be with character and to be brewed with a mixture of malt and Corsican chestnut flour, insular raw material. To do this, a brewery had to be built in Corsica and had to reach 10,000 hectolitres of production capacity.


Lignite mine reclamation through cultivation of AMP

Lavender cultivation

Electric power production from coal combustion still accounts for a great proportion of total energy production in Europe. The Public Power Corporation S.A is the largest power producer and distributor in Greece and for more than 70 years manages a great coal mining area, the Lignite Center of Western Macedonia. The coal mining procedure leads to the formation of disturbed lands in coal mines, mainly in the places of soil depositions, the implication of a viable reclamation practice of whom is very critical.


Feed Additives: Aromatic Plants and Herbs in Animal Nutrition and Health

Feed Additives: Aromatic Plants and Herbs in Animal Nutrition and Health

Nature has been the source of aromatic plants and herbs for thousands of years, and their use as medicines, enhancers of food aroma, preservatives, or cosmetics is well known from antiquity. However, the great development of animal product industry, in combination with the growing consumers’ demand for higher quality and more environmentally friendly products during the later years, led the food industry to begin to search for alternative solutions in animal nutrition. The introduction of aromatic plants as natural feed additives can be considered as one of them.


Praguetruffle: connecting truffles with tourism

Hills near Prague

PragueTruffle aims to diversify the tourism offer in Prague, which represents one of the most famous tourist destinations around the world. The initiative provides a truffle (species: Tuber aestivum) hunting demonstration (with a dog) in the Petřín Park, that offers one of the best views of Old Town Prague. In addition to this experience,  PragueTruffle customers receive contextual information about truffles as well as about Prague history, followed by a truffle dish in a luxury restaurant with a gorgeous view of Prague.  At the end, the clients can take a fresh truffle as a gift...


"Nectariss": truffle flavour from real truffles

Nectariss logo

Nectariss aims to create the ultimate truffle flavour from real truffles, addressing three main problems of truffle products:

  • the lack of authenticity of existing truffle aromas that are mainly prepared either synthetically or from seafood and vegetables;
  • the poor diversity of existing commercial truffle flavours (only few compared to hundreds of truffle sorts);
  • the lack of geographical traceability in truffle products and the consequent consumers' misconceptions that truffles exclusively come from few regions (i.e. Alba, Périgord), when they are really
  • ...

Valorisation of Ziziphus jujuba fruits

Ziziphus jujuba tree (experimental station-Rouhia)

Ziziphus jujuba, known as Chinese jujube, is a highly valued plant native to China. Three species are known in Tunisia: Ziziphus lotus, Ziziphus spina-christi and Ziziphus jujuba. The Ziziphus jujuba also known as “anneb” is the most popular specie. This tree (Figure 1), with 10 cm of length and 50 cm of diameter, offer a delicious read fruit (jujube) that was consumed fresh, dried and processed (jams, loaf, cakes, etc.). The aim of this study was to attempt, for the first time, the chemical compositions of Z. jujuba fruits...


Phytochemical Characterization of the Seed Oil of Pinus Halepensis

Inflorecence of Pinus halepensis

We have projected for the first time to study the impact of geographic variation and environmental conditions on the chemical composition, the antioxidant activities as well as the antitumor activity of two of Pinus halepensis Mill. Oils provenances, distributed under different ecological conditions in Tunisia.