Development of an innovative biorefinery process by the one-pot fractionation of defatted cardoon

The one-pot fractionation of defatted cardoon through biphasic organosolv process was conducted under the efficient microwave heating that allowed the separation and recovery of each biomass fraction. Subsequently, these fractions were characterized and valorized according to the Green Chemistry principles to provide high-quality lignin, to be employed as an antioxidant and in materials formulation, furfural, which is a relevant platform chemical and butyl levulinate, which can be advantageously adopted as bio-blendstock in mixture with Diesel or gasoline. Thus, for the first time, the complete exploitation of the waste defatted cardoon was successfully performed, contributing to developing the biorefinery process.