Onofre Agapito da Silva Figueira (DC1F-D018-160E)

Curriculum Vitae

Onofre Agapito da Silva Figueira

[EN] Onofre Agapito da Silva Figueira is a PhD student in Chemistry at the University of Madeira (UMa). Onofre holds a Master's degree in Applied Biochemistry (2021) and a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry (2017), both from UMa. As a Junior Researcher at the Madeira Chemistry Research Centre (CQM), Onofre has participated in 1 research project as a Research Fellow and 2 projects as a Researcher, with a focus on areas such as Biochemistry, Food Biotechnology, and Organic Chemistry. He has published 4 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to 1 book chapter. Onofre is also the (co-)author of several oral and poster presentations. Keywords: pectin, chitosan, bioactive membranes, drug delivery, polyphenols, and natural products. In August of 2021 Onofre was awarded a PhD scholarship by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). [PT] Onofre Agapito da Silva Figueira é aluno de doutoramento em Química pela Universidade da Madeira (UMa). Possui um Mestrado em Bioquímica Aplicada (2021) e uma Licenciatura em Bioquímica (2017), ambos pela UMa. Como Investigador Júnior no Centro de Química da Madeira (CQM), participou como Bolseiro de Investigação em 1 projeto e como Investigador em 2 projetos, com ênfase em áreas como Bioquímica, Biotecnologia Alimentar e Química Orgânica. Publicou 4 artigos em revistas científicas e contribuiu com 1 capítulo de livro. É ainda (co-)autor de várias apresentações orais e em painel. Palavras-chave: pectina, quitosano, membranas bioativas, libertação controlada de fármacos, polifenóis e produtos naturais. Em Agosto de 2021 foi-lhe atribuída uma bolsa de doutoramento financiada pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT).

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Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Onofre Agapito da Silva Figueira

Citation names

Figueira, Onofre

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: DC1F-D018-160E
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5732-0994
Google Scholar ID: dd_aq-oAAAAJ&hl

Email addresses

onofre.figueira@staff.uma.pt (Professional)

Addresses

Campus Universitário da Penteada, Caminho da Achada nº10, 9020-105, Funchal, Funchal, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

https://doi.org/10.54499/2021.06250.BD (Scholar)

Knowledge fields

Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
Agrarian Sciences - Agrarian and Food Biotechnology
Exact Sciences - Chemical Sciences - Organic Chemistry

Languages

Language	Speaking	Reading	Writing	Listening	Peer-review
English	Upper intermediate (B2)	Upper intermediate (B2)	Upper intermediate (B2)	Upper intermediate (B2)	Upper intermediate (B2)

Education

	Degree	Classification
2021 - 2025 Ongoing	Química (Doutoramento) Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2024/12/02 - 2024/12/04 Concluded	Avances en el desarrollo de materiales bio-basados derivados de residuos agroalimentarios (10h) (Outros) Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo, Spain
2024/09/05 - 2024/09/05 Concluded	Espectroscopia Atómica (3,5h) (Outros) Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2023/09/27 - 2023/10/26 Concluded	Dermocosmética (16h) (Outros) FormaçãoOnline, Portugal	18.5
2023/10/13 - 2023/10/17 Concluded	Hands-on training to use Design expert® (StatEase®) software for experiments design and optimization (10h) (Outros) Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2023/02/10 - 2023/02/10 Concluded	Green Chemistry as a suitable strategy in food and environmental safety evaluation (1h) (Outros) Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal
2022/04/12 - 2022/04/14 Concluded	MASS SPECTROMETRY BASED METABOLOMICS METHODS FOR NATURAL PRODUCT ANALYSIS: FROM BASICS TO ADVANCED MINING TOOLS (13,5h) (Outros) Universiti Teknologi MARA Atta-ur-Rahman Institute for Natural Product Discovery, Malaysia
2017/08/02 - 2021/01/20 Concluded	Bioquímica Aplicada (Mestrado) Universidade da Madeira, Portugal "Profile Analysis of Oligosaccharides in Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) Roots: Extraction Optimization and Inulin Hydrolysis" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	18
2014/09/08 - 2017/06/26 Concluded	Bioquímica (Licenciatura) Major in Bioquímica Universidade da Madeira, Portugal "Obtenção e caracterização de colagénio, gelatina e minerais a partir de resíduos de peixe" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	15

Affiliation

Science

	Category Host institution	Employer
2020/07/01 - 2020/07/31	Research Trainee (Research)	Direção Regional da Juventude, Portugal
	Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal

Teaching in Higher Education

	Category Host institution	Employer
2021 - 2023	Invited Assistant (University Teacher)	Universidade da Madeira, Portugal

Others

	Category Host institution	Employer
2018/09 - Current	Investigador Júnior	Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal
	Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal
2024/12/04 - 2024/12/04	Docente Curso - Avances en el desarrollo de materiales bio-basados derivados de residuos agroalimentarios	Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo, Spain
	Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2017/10/30 - 2019/09/18	Operador de Vendas	Decathlon Funchal, Portugal

Projects

Grant

	Designation	Funders
2021/10/01 - 2025/09/30	Encapsulating bioactive Phenolic Compounds from Madeira Island Flora using food waste materials 2021.06250.BD 10.54499/2021.06250.BD Universidade da Madeira Faculdade de Ciências Exatas e da Engenharia, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Ongoing
2021/06/01 - 2021/09/30	MACBIOPEST - BIOPESTICIDAS BOTÁNICOS DE LA MACARONESIA: INVESTIGACIÓN Y SABER POPULAR MAC2/1.1a/289 Research Fellow Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal	Interreg Europe Concluded

Contract

	Designation	Funders
2023/03/01 - Current	Red Temática IBEROCIRCULAR Innovación y sostenibilidad para la Cadena de Valor de Vegetales IBERO-CIRCULAR 323RT0142 Researcher	Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo
2018/09 - 2021	PREMIUM - Preservation of microorganisms by understanding the protective mechanisms of oligosaccharides Horizon 2020 - MSCA - 2017, N. º 777657 Researcher Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal	European Commission Concluded

Outputs

Publications

Book chapter	Martins, Gonçalo Nuno; Figueira, Onofre; Castilho, Paula Cristina. "Immobilization of ß-Galactosidase in Calcium Alginate Beads". In Basic Protocols in Encapsulation of Food Ingredients, edited by Andrea Gomez-Zavaglia, 167-181. Springer US, 2021. Published • 10.1007/978-1-0716-1649-9_15
Conference paper	Pereira, Verónica Raquel Sousa; Figueira, Onofre; Spínola, Vítor; Cardoso, Miguel; Castilho, Paula. "Valorization of Orange Peel Waste by Green Consecutive Extraction of Pectin and Hesperidin". Paper presented in Phytochemaical Society of Europe - Young Scientist Meeting, Paris, 2023. Published Pereira, Verónica Raquel Sousa; Figueira, Onofre; Castilho, Paula. "Hesperidin as a potential biopesticide for environmental applications: extraction, purity determination, and formulation". Paper presented in 10º Encontro Anual CQM, Funchal, 2023.
Conference poster	Figueira, Onofre; Castilho, Paula. "From Food Waste to Biomedical Applications: Exploring Pectin and Chitosan Membranes". Paper presented in XI Jornadas de I+D+i & 3rd International Workshop on STEM, 2024. Pereira, Verónica Raquel Sousa; Figueira, Onofre; Castilho, Paula. "Hesperidin-loaded nanoparticles as a promising sustainable release system for environmental applications". Paper presented in XXXI International Congress in Polyphenols ICP2023 em Topic 6: Biomaterials, green chemistry & circular bioeconomy, 2023. Figueira, Onofre; Verónica Pereira; Paula C. Castilho. "HESPERIDIN AND PECTIN SEQUENTIAL EXTRACTION FOR ORANGE WASTE VALORIZATION". Paper presented in 31st International Conference on Polyphenols, 2023. Figueira, Onofre; Paula C. Castilho. "PEC Membranes Based on Pectin-Chitosan and Pectin-Chitosan-Wax for Biomedical Applications". Paper presented in Trends in Natural Products Research: A PSE Young Scientists Meeting, 2023. Figueira, Onofre; Paula C. Castilho. "FOS production catalyzed by immobilized endo-inulinase in calcium-alginate beads". Paper presented in XV Encontro de Química dos Alimentos, 2021. Figueira, Onofre; Martins, Gonçalo Nuno; Gomez-Zavaglia, Andrea; Castilho, Paula. "Fructo- and galacto-oligosaccharides purification: the hard step". Paper presented in 2nd Food Chemistry Conference, 2019. Figueira, Onofre; Martins, Gonçalo Nuno; Castilho, Paula. "Plant-based FOS and GOS: So easy so difficult". Paper presented in XXVI Encontro Nacional da SPQ - XXVIENSPQ, 2019.
Journal article	Verónica Pereira; Onofre Figueira; Paula C. Castilho. "Hesperidin: a flavanone with multifaceted applications in the food, animal feed, and environmental fields". Phytochemistry Reviews (2024): https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-024-10008-2. 10.1007/s11101-024-10008-2 Verónica Pereira; Onofre Figueira; Paula C. Castilho. "Flavonoids as Insecticides in Crop Protection—A Review of Current Research and Future Prospects". Plants (2024): https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13060776. 10.3390/plants13060776 Onofre Figueira; Verónica Pereira; Paula C. Castilho. "A Two-Step Approach to Orange Peel Waste Valorization: Consecutive Extraction of Pectin and Hesperidin". Foods (2023): https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12203834. 10.3390/foods12203834 Maria Micaela Ureta; Gonçalo Nuno Martins; Onofre Figueira; Pedro Filipe Pires; Paula Cristina Castilho; Andrea Gomez-Zavaglia. "Recent advances in ß-galactosidase and fructosyltransferase immobilization technology". Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (2020): 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2020.1783639. Published • 10.1080/10408398.2020.1783639
Thesis / Dissertation	Figueira, Onofre. "Profile Analysis of Oligosaccharides in Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) Roots: Extraction Optimization and Inulin Hydrolysis". Master, Universidade da Madeira, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/3143.

Activities

Oral presentation

	Presentation title	Event name Host (Event location)
2023/06/02	Membranes for Biomedical Applications: Investigating the Potential of Pectin and Chitosan	10th CQM Annual Meeting Centro de Química da Madeira (Funchal, Portugal)
2022/09	Sequential extraction of pectin and hesperidin from orange peel wastes: a green chemistry approach	9th CQM Annual Meeting Centro de Química da Madeira (Funchal, Portugal)
2021/10/07	Pepsinogen from Aphanopus spp. and Thunnus obesus immobilization in chitosan spheres	8th CQM Annual Meeting Centro de Química da Madeira (Funchal, Portugal)
2020/09/21	An analytical tool for inulin hydrolysis/ Can I use my smartphone in the lab?	7th CQM Annual Meeting Centro de Química da Madeira (Funchal, Portugal)
2019/04/27	Extraction, purification and quantification of fructooligosaccharides in Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) roots and syrup	6th CQM Annual Meeting Centro de Química da Madeira (Porto Moniz, Portugal)
2018/11/10	New function discoveries for traditional probiotics in gut-skin axis	FISSIN- INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF HEALTH, DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS, FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS AND NUTRACEUTICALS FISSIN (Lisboa, Portugal)