Fennel oil and by-products seed characterization and their potential applications

The implementation of renewable resources in the industrial production processes appears to be the most effective way to achieve sustainable development. However, in order to tackle the key issues of shifting to renewable resources, a full exploitation of biomass resources and efficient utilization of complex organic macromolecules and also other chemical constituents such as antioxidants in bio-refinery system will be crucial. In this regard, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) seeds could be a promising bio-resource with significant interest as a rich source of both vegetable oil (VO) and essential oil (EO), in addition to rare phytochemicals. Thus, in the present paper, a trans-disciplinary assessment of a new bio-refinery process from fennel seeds was established: the development of an integrated valorization of fennel seeds, allowing the extraction of VO and EO and their exploitation in cosmetic applications as well as the valorization of residual by-products as a source of biologically active compounds, these processes constituted the basis of this bio-refinery concept. Laboratory obtained results and pilot-scale levels with fennel seeds reported extraction of high yield of both VO and EO (19.8% and 1.8%, respectively) with significant amounts of valuable components, petroselinic acid and trans-anethole (74.8% and 70.7%, respectively). Further, the valorization of these oils as functional ingredients in moisturizing cream formulas showed a positive impact on the overall emulsions structure and quality. Next to this, fennel oilseeds by-products exhibited a remarkable antioxidant potential with high phenols and flavonoids contents and exhibited good antimicrobial properties depending on the extract type. These promising findings are of great economic interest as they can lead to a wild range of novel, bio-based industrial applications from fennel seeds.