Antioxidant Properties of Pyroligneous Acid Obtained by Thermochemical Conversion of Schisandra chinensis Baill

Sustainable development of renewable resources is a major challenge globally. Biomass is an important renewable energy source and an alternative to fossil fuels. Pyrolysis of biomass is a promising method for simultaneous production of biochar, bio-oil, pyroligneous acid (PA), and gaseous fuels. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chunhui Ma, Wei Li, Yuangang Zu, Lei Yang, Jian Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2014-12-01
Series:Molecules
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/19/12/20821
Description
Summary:Sustainable development of renewable resources is a major challenge globally. Biomass is an important renewable energy source and an alternative to fossil fuels. Pyrolysis of biomass is a promising method for simultaneous production of biochar, bio-oil, pyroligneous acid (PA), and gaseous fuels. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pyrolysis process and products yields of Schisandra chinensis fruits with different pyrolysis powers. The obtained PA was extracted with organic solvents, including ethyl formate, dichloromethane, methanol and tetrahydrofuran. The antioxidant activities, including the free radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing power, of the PA extracts were investigated. The synthetic antioxidants butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene were used as positive controls. A dichloromethane extract of PA showed excellent antioxidant properties compared to the other extracts. The chemical compositions of the PA extracts were determined by GC-MS, and further proved that the dichloromethane extract had the best antioxidant characteristics among the extracts tested.
ISSN:1420-3049