Biological Activity of the Extracts from Pecan Shelling Industry Byproducts

Highlights First study on characterization of the extracts obtained from industrial pecan nut processing byproducts. Chemical composition and biological activity of the extracts varied with the pecan cultivars used in the process. Pecan shell extracts exhibited anticancer, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Abstract Industrial processing of pecan nuts produces large amounts of shells. They have economic significance to pecan growers and processors. Hence, it is imperative that valorization of the pecan processing byproducts are explored. In this study, byproducts from commercial pecan nut shelling operations were evaluated as potential sources of biologically active phytochemicals. Shelling byproducts from Pawnee, Native and Stuart cultivars were examined. Aqueous ethanol shell extracts were analyzed for their chemical composition using the QTOF-MS technique. Total phenolic content, DPPH Radical Scavenging Capacity, anticancer and antimicrobial activity of the samples were investigated. Chemical composition and biological activity of the shell extracts varied significantly with the pecan cultivar and type of the byproduct stream used in the study. Presence of nut meat pieces in the byproducts resulted in high oil content in the extracts. The extract from Pawnee cultivar showed high DDPH activity, low IC50 for the cancer cell lines and high IC50 for the healthy cell line Vero. Extracts from all the cultivars had antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli at relatively high disk loadings. This is the first report on the biological activity of extracts obtained from commercial pecan shelling operation byproducts. The findings of this study have significant practical implications and provide the initial data much needed for valorization of industrial byproducts.