Use of Aromatic Medicinal Plants By-products for the
Development of Beverages with Beneficial Properties - Abstract
Argyro Vontzalidou 1, Evanthia Dina 1, Katerina Grigoriadou 2, Panagiotis Bagatzounis 3,
Styliani Alexandri 2, Georgia Koutouzidou 2, Ilias Giannenas 4 and Nektarios Aligiannis 1
1
  Laboratory of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, Athens, Greece
2
  Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization – DEMETER, P.O. Box
60458, 570 01 Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece
3
  M. Bagatzounis & Sons S.A, Vatero, 50100, Kozani, Greece
4
  Laboratory of Nutrition, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece


                Summary 1
                During the processing of cultivated aromatic medicinal plants for their commercial use, a great
                number of inferior b’-quality products and by-products is obtained, which although until now
                are treated as "waste", they are rich in bioactive natural products with beneficial properties on
                human health. After a bibliographical research about the uses, the biological properties and the
                chemical content of plant species with significant amount of by-products, a number of herbs
                was further investigated for the development of beverages with slimming and relaxing activity
                and for the stimulation of immune system. The selected species for their slimming properties
                were Camellia sinensis and Aloysia citrodora and for their relaxing properties Tilia cordata,
                Matricaria recutita, Melissa officinalis and Passiflora incarnata. Also, for the stimulation of
                immune system, Origanum dictamnus, Sideritis sp., Cistus creticus and Echinacea purpurea
                were chosen. Techniques of infusion and water decoction were used for the preparation of
                extracts, in different proportions of mixing plant materials and solvent, for the three beverage
                categories. The methanolic extracts were, also, prepared in order to characterize the quality of
                the raw materials and to correlate their composition with the properties of the final products.
                All the extracts derived from infusion and water decoction were evaluated for their chemical
                profile (HPTLC technique), antioxidant capacity (DPPH free radical scavenging method) and
                their total phenolic content (Folin–Ciocalteu method). Then, the different mixtures were
                evaluated for their organoleptic characteristics (smell, taste, colour) for the selection of the
                final plant materials to be used for the development of the final beverages. The technique of
                infusion was selected, compared with water decoction, as the most suitable for the preparation
                of all the final beverages. After tests for the improvement of taste and smell, the composition
                of the final products was as follows: The beverage with slimming activity is a mixture of
                Camellia sinensis and Aloysia citrodora (1:1) with the addition of maltodextrin in specific
                quantity, the beverage with relaxing properties is a mixture of Tilia cordata, Matricaria
                recutita, Melissa officinalis, Passiflora incarnata (1:1:1:1) and the beverage for the stimulation
                of immune system is a mixture of Sideritis sp., Origanum dictamnus, Cistus creticus,
                Echinacea purpurea (1.5:0.5:1:1). Hence, the preparation of the three beverages through the
                utilization of plant material by-products, that are not commercially accepted, highlighted to
                develop novel products with benefits for human health and economic value can through the
                exploitation of aromatic medicinal plants by-products.



Proceedings of HAICTA 2022, September 22–25, 2022, Athens, Greece
EMAIL: avontzalidou@pharm.uoa.gr (A. 1); evanthiadina@gmail.com (A. 2); grigokat@outlook.com (A. 3); panos@bagatzounis.com (A.
4); stelalexa@yahoo.gr (A. 5); koutouzidoug@gmail.com (A. 6); igiannenas@vet.auth.gr (A. 7); aligiannis@pharm.uoa.gr (A. 8)
ORCID: 0000-0003-4270-5415 (A. 1); 0000-0002-8000-9982 (A. 3); 0000-0002-6077-0504 (A. 6); 0000-0003-3145-3734 (A. 7); 0000-
0002-3335-8135 (A. 8)
             ©️ 2022 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
             Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
             CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)




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Keywords
Aromatic medicinal plants, by-products, beverages

Acknowledgements
This research was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European
Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness,
Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH-CREATE-INNOVATE (project
code: T1EDK--05041, Acronym: FeedMAP).




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