Foreword: Constitutional Courts in the European legal system after the Treaty of Lisbon and the Euro-crisis

The paper provides for an introduction to the special issue of the German Law Journal on the topic of preliminary references to the CJEU by the highest jurisdictions. Following an introduction based on a comparative analysis of the status quo and the potential of the use of the preliminary reference by Constitutional Courts, Part One is devoted to the multilevel system of constitutional adjudication in which Constitutional Courts are requested to act so as to include the national level, the EU, and the system of the ECHR. Part Two is devoted to long-standing or (newly) stabilized relationships between the CJEU and Constitutional Courts. Part Three deals with Constitutional Courts that have referred preliminary questions to the CJEU. Part Four analyzes the cases of Courts that have not yet issued a preliminary reference to the CJEU. Part Five includes a series of comparative analyses of how Constitutional Courts perceive their role in the "dialogue" with the CJEU and on their use of the preliminary reference procedure in crucial sectors. In the final paper, new questions are put forward and lead to a depiction of "Europe" as a space of constitutional interdependence

Polyphenols extracted from red grape pomace by a surfactant based method show enhanced collagenase and elastase inhibitory activity

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to separate polyphenols from grape pomace using a surfactant-based separation, Colloidal Gas Aphrons (CGA) and to investigate their inhibitory activity against skin relevant enzymes, collagenase and elastase. Ethanolic (EE) and hot water crude extracts (HWE) were produced first and then the CGA generated using TWEEN20 were applied resulting in polyphenols enriched fractions (CGA-EE and CGA-HWE, ethanol and hot water extracts derived fractions respectively). RESULTS: Both crude extracts inhibited the enzymes in a dose-dependent manner however, further extraction by CGA led to fractions with higher inhibitory efficiency against collagenase. Although gallic acid was the main component of the CGA-HWE, others such as kaempferol must have contributed to its potency which was over six times more than gallic acid's. The CGA-EE was found to be about four times more efficient than its crude extract and over six times more efficient than gallic acid in collagenase's inhibition; quercetin was the major polyphenol in this fraction. CONCLUSION: It is evident that ethanol and hot water extraction processes led to different polyphenols composition and thus different inhibitory activity against collagenase and elastase. Further separation with CGA increased the inhibitory potency of both extracts against collagenase. Overall the results here showed the potential application of the CGA fractions from grape extracts in cosmetics

Green ultrasound-assisted extraction of anthocyanin and phenolic compounds from purple sweet potato using response surface methodology

Response surface methodology was used to optimize experimental conditions for ultrasound-assisted extraction of valuable components (anthocyanins and phenolics) from purple sweet potatoes using water as a solvent. The Box-Behnken design was used for optimizing extraction responses of anthocyanin extraction yield, phenolic extraction yield, and specific energy consumption. Conditions to obtain maximal anthocyanin extraction yield, maximal phenolic extraction yield, and minimal specific energy consumption were different; an overall desirability function was used to search for overall optimal conditions: extraction temperature of 68C, ultrasonic treatment time of 52 min, and a liquid/solid ratio of 20. The optimized anthocyanin extraction yield, phenolic extraction yield, and specific energy consumption were 4.91 mg 100 g-1 fresh weight, 3.24 mg g-1 fresh weight, and 2.07 kWh g-1, respectively, with a desirability of 0.99. This study indicates that ultrasound-assisted extraction should contribute to a green process for valorization of purple sweet potatoes

Optimization of extraction conditions and enhancement of phenolic content and antioxidant activity of pearl millet fermented with Aspergillus awamori MTCC-548

AbstractThe present study envisaged two stage optimization of conditions using RSM for extraction of total phenolic compounds from pearl millet koji prepared with Aspergillus awamori. Antioxidant activity was determined by employing DPPH and radical cation of ABTS. In phase-1, fermentation time (5–8 days), extraction temperature (40–60 °C), extraction time (45–60 min.) and solvent (ethanol, 50%; 0.5 ml HCL + 99.5 ml methanol) were tested for maximizing extraction process. The optimum conditions of phenolic recovery were achieved at 8 days fermentation time, 40 °C extraction temperature, 45 min. extraction time with 50% ethanol as solvent, with values of 169.19 mg GAE/g for TPC, 262.7 VCEAC µmol/g for DPPH and 281.86 VCEAC µmol/g for ABTS. TPC were found to be positively correlated (p < 0.05) with DPPH and ABTS under these conditions. In phase-2, a central composite design was applied for design of experiments and model building using extraction time and extraction temperature as process variables for further maximizing the extraction of TPC. The optimized conditions using RSM for maximizing the extraction of total phenolic compounds were: ethanol concentration, 50%; extraction temperature, 44.5 °C and extraction time, 23.8 mins. Under these conditions, 176.82 mg GAE/g of total phenolic compounds were extracted which was very close to the predicted value of 173.2 mg GAE/g. The model was validated at these optimal points

Lignin as natural radical scavenger. Effect of the obtaining and purification processes on the antioxidant behaviour of lignin

In the present work, the antioxidant activity of 14 lignin samples obtained from apple tree pruning was studied. Different solvents (water, soda−water 7.5% w/w, ethanol−water 60:40 v/v and acetic acid−water 60:40 v/v) under different operation conditions were used in order to extract the lignin and different techniques (ultrafiltration, differential precipitation and lignin purification) were applied with the aim of improving the lignin properties. The obtained lignin samples were characterized by different analytical techniques evaluating their chemical structure (ATR−IR), thermal behaviour (TGA and DSC) and molecular weight (GPC). Further analyses (13C NMR and Folin−Ciocalteu method) were carried out in order to determine the purity and the total phenolics content present in the lignin samples. The antioxidant activity of the analyzed lignins was evaluated by the radical ABTS assay. The results revealed the high influence that the lignin obtaining process had on the lignin properties, determining its possible commercial application. Results also indicated that autohydrolysis, organosolv and some ultrafiltrated soda lignins showed antioxidant efficiency comparable with a powerful natural antioxidant, as catechin, and a commercial one, Trolox®