Inulin Content in Chipped and Whole Roots of Cardoon after Six Months Storage under Natural Conditions

Luigi Pari, Vincenzo Alfano, Walter Stefanoni, Francesco Latterini, Federico Liuzzi, Isabella De Bari, Vito Valerio and Anna Ciancolini
Additional contact information
Luigi Pari: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria (CREA)—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via della Pascolare, 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
Vincenzo Alfano: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria (CREA)—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via della Pascolare, 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
Walter Stefanoni: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria (CREA)—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via della Pascolare, 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
Francesco Latterini: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria (CREA)—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via della Pascolare, 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
Federico Liuzzi: ENEA Centro Ricerche Trisaia, 75026 Rotondella, Italy
Isabella De Bari: ENEA Centro Ricerche Trisaia, 75026 Rotondella, Italy
Vito Valerio: ENEA Centro Ricerche Trisaia, 75026 Rotondella, Italy
Anna Ciancolini: NOVAMONT SpA, 28100 Novara, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-11

Abstract: Industries currently rely on chicory and Jerusalem artichoke for inulin extraction but also cardoon is proved to synthetize and store high quantity of inulin in roots as well. Cardoon is a multipurpose crop, well adapted to marginal lands, whose main residues at the end of cropping cycle consist of roots. However, cardoon roots are a suitable source of inulin, that is of high interest for new generation biodegradable bioplastics production. On the other hand, a sustainable supply chain for inulin production from cardoon roots has not been developed yet. In particular, in the inulin supply chain the most critical part is storage, which can negatively affect both cost and inulin quantity. In the present study the effect on inulin content in cardoon roots stored as dried chipped roots (CRt) and dried whole roots (WRt) was investigated in a 6-month storage trial. Our findings suggest that chipping before storage did not affect the inulin content during the storage. Furthermore, it reduced the time needed for drying by 33.3% and increased the bulk density by 154.9% with the consequent reduction of direct cost for drying, transportation and storage.

Keywords: Cynara roots; biorefinery; marginal lands; multipurpose crop; fermentable sugars; agricultural residues exploitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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