Quince biowaste valorization into targeted drug delivery components and innovative health-promoting agents

Along with increased demand of natural drug delivery components and innovative health beneficial compounds in herbal medicine industry, critically grows the necessity to bring diversity to a natural product portfolio. In opposite side is enormous amount of bioactive compound rich agriculture-based waste. Quince (Cydonia oblonga) is among the most essential underexploited fruit species. In the proposed project, we aim to create scientific basis and innovative systemic analytical approach for the development and valorisation of new high added value health-promoting agents to be obtained within sustainable “zero-waste” principle from biologically active substances of different types of unused in food production chain quince bio-waste (pomace, twigs, leaves). The health promoting potential of phenolic rich quince extracts will be characterized using chromatography, spectroscopic analysis, ICP-MS, DSC methods and the pharmaceutical (antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic) activities will be evaluated. To increase the bioavailability and to improve the dissolution of extracts the obtained quince pectin will be investigated as a carrier of extracts. Moreover, the pectin will be investigated in drug delivery system as carrier/coating of model compounds. To the best of our knowledge, this study is novel in that it investigates quince biowaste towards sustainable consumption in health care field from a practical application perspective.