Triterpenic and Other Lipophilic Components from Industrial Cork Byproducts

The detailed chemical composition of the lipophilic extractives of cork and cork byproducts generated throughout industrial processing has been investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Triterpenes (cerine, friedeline, and betulinic acid) were the major components detected. Betulinic acid is the main triterpene (11.7 g/kg) identified in industrial cork powder, whereas in black condensates friedeline (95.3 g/kg), betuline (13.1 g/kg), and betulinic acid (12.1 g/kg) are the main triperpenes. Significant fractions of alpha-hydroxy fatty acids (115.1 g/kg) and alpha,omega-dicarboxylic acids (21.2 g/kg) were also detected in black condensate after alkaline hydrolysis. The results demonstrate that these two industrial byproducts can be considered as promising sources of bioactive chemicals or chemical intermediates for the synthesis of polymeric materials.