IN THE LAST YEARS, CHILE HAS INCREASED THE PRODUCTION OF BLUEBERRIES; CONSEQUENTLY, A LARGE NUMBER OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC RESIDUES DERIVED FROM THE HARVESTING AND PRUNING ARE BEING GENERATED. THESE RESIDUES ARE COMMONLY BURNED, THEREFORE INCREASING CO2 EMISSIONS. THIS STUDY FOCUSES ON THE EXTRACTION OF TWO ADDED-VALUE PRODUCTS FROM BLUEBERRY PRUNING RESIDUES (BPRS), CELLULOSE NANOCRYSTALS (CNC-IL) ISOLATED USING IONIC LIQUID (IL) 1-ETHYL-3-METHYLIMIDAZOLIUM [EMIM][CL], AND CARBOXYLATED NANOCELLULOSE (TOCNC), ISOLATED WITH (2,2,6,6-TETRAMETHYLPIPERIDINE-1-YL) OXYL OR TEMPO REAGENT COMBINED WITH A MECHANICAL DISINTEGRATION PROCESS. THESE PRODUCTS WERE CHARACTERIZED BY ZETA POTENTIAL (?), FTIR, XRD, TGA, AFM, AND CONDUCTOMETRIC TITRATION. RESULTS SHOW OVAL-SHAPED CNC-IL PARTICLES WITH LENGTHS OF 46.1?±?9.3?NM; MEANWHILE, TOCNC WERE ROD-LIKE SHAPED PARTICLES, WITH LENGTHS OF 120.3?±?30.6?NM. THESE BPRS SHOWED A PROMISING POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE CELLULOSE NANOCRYSTALS (CNCS) WITH DIFFERENT SURFACE PROPERTIES, OPENING A NEW ALTERNATIVE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CELLULOSE NANOMATERIALS (CNMS) WITH PROMISING APPLICATIONS IN COLLOIDAL FORMULATIONS, COATINGS, AMONG OTHERS.

CHILE IS THE SECOND LARGEST GLOBAL PRODUCER OF BLUEBERRIES, WHICH ARE HARVESTED IN THE SOUTH-CENTRAL REGION. AS A RESULT OF THE EXPONENTIAL PRODUCTION GROWTH, A LARGE AMOUNT OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS IS GENERATED FROM PRUNING AND LEFT ON THE GROUND AS WASTE. AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE CURRENT INCINERATION PRACTICES AND THEIR NEGATIVE AIR POLLUTION EFFECTS, THIS STUDY PROPOSED VALUE-ADDED UTILIZATION OF THESE AGROINDUSTRY RESIDUES. THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS (CELLULOSE, HEMICELLULOSE, LIGNIN, EXTRACTIVES, AND ASH) OF THE PRUNING RESIDUES FROM BLUEBERRY BRANCHES AND TRUNKS WERE ANALYZED. THE CELLULOSE CONTENTS FROM THE BRANCHES AND TRUNKS WERE SIMILAR AT 52% AND 51%, RESPECTIVELY. HOWEVER, THE X-RAY DIFFRACTION ANALYSIS INDICATED IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES IN THEIR CRYSTALLINITY INDEX, WITH 52% AND 84%, RESPECTIVELY. COMPARED WITH THE CELLULOSE OBTAINED FROM THE TRUNKS, CELLULOSE FROM THE BRANCHES WAS LESS THERMALLY STABLE, POSSIBLY DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF RESIDUAL LIGNIN AND HEMICELLULOSE. ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS, IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE AGRO-INDUSTRIAL RESIDUES FROM PRUNING OF THE CHILEAN BLUEBERRY BUSHES (BRANCHES AND TRUNKS) MIGHT BE OF USE AS A POTENTIAL PLATFORM FOR BIOPRODUCTS, SUCH AS CELLULOSE MATERIALS IN ORDER TO REPLACE SYNTHETIC OR UNSUSTAINABLE MATERIALS.