A study coordinated by the National Research Council’s Institute for Bioeconomics (CNR-Ibe) and the Luke Institute in Helsinki, Finland, has revealed the high antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral properties of fir bark extract. The results of the in vitro research, in which other Italian, Finnish and U.S. partners participated, were published in the journal Separation and Purification Technology.
“In this research, we have used the bark of spruce – a species particularly common in the Alps and also in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines-a by-product of the forestry chain that is usually unused or destined for burning. The extracts, obtained by the hydrodynamic cavitation technique, have high antioxidant and antiviral properties against two types of viruses, and particularly effective antibacterial activity against several strains. This method was found to be efficient, fast, able to operate at low temperatures and even with other by-products, such as twigs,” stresses Francesco Meneguzzo, CNR-Ibe researcher and supervisor of the study.
This type of extraction had never been exploited before, due to the lack of a technique that was capable of returning a product that was safe for the organism and capable of ensuring an adequate economic return. “We designed an innovative and comprehensive technological system capable of processing as much as thirty thousand tons of by-products in one year. After extensive experimentation and complex analysis, we were able to identify in detail what the technical and market aspects could be that were crucial for the economic sustainability of the industrial application,” Meneguzzo concludes.
The study, conducted as part of the Academy of Finland’s ForestAntivirals project and the Italian Pnrr On Foods (funded by NextGenerationEU) and Nutrage (funded by CNR) projects, may pave the way for a new forest bioeconomy, not limited to the production of fuels or technical materials, but focused on products that are potentially important for human health, usable for the functionalization of foods and the making of food supplements.
