Soybean hulls, an alternative source of bioactive compounds: Combining pyrolysis with bioguided fractionation

Abstract

The trend for material and energy recovery from residues along with the need to reduce greenhouse gases has led to an increased interest in the thermal exploitation of biomass and/or their wastes. Due to the enormous quantity generated every year, agro-industrial byproducts have an attractive potential to be recycled. One way to do this is by means of pyrolysis, a thermal decomposition of high molecular weight polymers into simpler compounds. In this study, we applied an autographic assay to analyze the biological effect of bio-oils produced by pyrolysis of soybean hulls. The discovery of a compound with antimicrobial activity validated this novel approach as a tool for the generation of bioactive compounds.