Sustainable utilization of agri-food wastes and by-products for producing value-added products (for cosmetic, pharmaceutical or food industrial applications) provides an opportunity for earning additional income for the dependent industrial sector. Besides, effective valorisation of wastes/by-products can efficiently help in reducing environmental stress by decreasing unwarranted pollution. The major focus of this review is to provide comprehensive information on valorisation of agri-food wastes and by-products with focus laid on bioactive compounds and bioactivity. The review covers the bioactives identified from wastes and by-products of plants (fruits, exotic fruits, vegetables and seeds), animals (dairy and meat) and marine (fish, shellfish seaweeds) resources. Further, insights on the present status and future challenges of sustainably utilizing agri-food wastes/by-products for value addition will be highlighted.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/3/510/pdf

Bioactives From Agri-Food Wastes: Present Insights and Future Challenges.

The management of industrial fruit by-products is important not only to decrease the volume of food waste accumulated in the landfills but also to develop strategies through reuse with the purpose to valorise and add economic value. The disposal of food waste leads to different global issues in different sectors, such as social, environmental and economical. These by-products represent a rich source of valuable compounds (polyphenols) with high antioxidant activity, which can be extracted through biotechnological methodologies for future industrial applications. In this context, the management of fruit by-products is challenged to move from a linear economy to a circular economy. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to provide a critical view of an integrated valorisation of fruit by-products to overcome a global issue, via the production of antioxidant extracts with high economic value. A case study of pineapple processing industrialization in a circular economy is explored and discussed.

Management of Fruit Industrial By-Products-A Case Study on Circular Economy Approach.

Cereals are one of the major food sources in human diet and a large quantity of by-products is generated throughout their processing chain. These by-products mostly consist of the germ and outer layers (bran), deriving from dry and wet milling of grains, brewers' spent grain originating from brewing industry, or others originating during bread-making and starch production. Cereal industry by-products are rich in nutrients, but still they end up as feed, fuel, substrates for biorefinery, or waste. The above uses, however, only provide a partial recycle. Although cereal processing industry side streams can potentially provide essential compounds for the diet, their use in food production is limited by their challenging technological properties. For this reason, the development of innovative biotechnologies is essential to upgrade these by-products, potentially leading to the design of novel and commercially competitive functional foods. Fermentation has been proven as a very feasible option to enhance the technological, sensory, and especially nutritional and functional features of the cereal industry by-products. Through the increase of minerals, phenolics and vitamins bioavailability, proteins digestibility, and the degradation of antinutritional compounds as phytic acid, fermentation can lead to improved nutritional quality of the matrix. In some cases, more compelling benefits have been discovered, such as the synthesis of bioactive compounds acting as antimicrobial, antitumoral, antioxidant agents. When used for baked-goods manufacturing, fermented cereal by-products have enhanced their nutritional profile. The key factor of a successful use of cereal by-products in food applications is the use of a proper bioprocessing technology, including fermentation with selected starters. In the journey toward a more efficient food chain, biotechnological approaches for the valorization of agricultural side streams can be considered a very valuable help.

/pdf/fermentation-biotechnology-applied-to-cereal-industry-by-90a850cfy7.pdf

Fermentation Biotechnology Applied to Cereal Industry By-Products: Nutritional and Functional Insights.

Lwt-Food Science And Technology

The search for new biological sources of commercial value is a major goal for the sustainable management of natural resources. The huge amount of fishery by-catch or processing by-products continuously produced needs to be managed to avoid environmental problems and keep resource sustainability. Fishery by-products can represent an interesting source of high added value bioactive compounds, such as proteins, carbohydrates, collagen, polyunsaturated fatty acids, chitin, polyphenolic constituents, carotenoids, vitamins, alkaloids, tocopherols, tocotrienols, toxins; nevertheless, their biotechnological potential is still largely underutilized. Depending on their structural and functional characteristics, marine-derived biomolecules can find several applications in food industry, agriculture, biotechnological (chemical, industrial or environmental) fields. Fish internal organs are a rich and underexplored source of bioactive compounds; the fish gut microbiota biosynthesizes essential or short-chain fatty acids, vitamins, minerals or enzymes and is also a source of probiotic candidates, in turn producing bioactive compounds with antibiotic and biosurfactant/bioemulsifier activities. Chemical, enzymatic and/or microbial processing of fishery by-catch or processing by-products allows the production of different valuable bioactive compounds; to date, however, the lack of cost-effective extraction strategies so far has prevented their exploitation on a large scale. Standardization and optimization of extraction procedures are urgently required, as processing conditions can affect the qualitative and quantitative properties of these biomolecules. Valorization routes for such raw materials can provide a great additional value for companies involved in the field of bioprospecting. The present review aims at collecting current knowledge on fishery by-catch or by-products, exploring the valorization of their active biomolecules, in application of the circular economy paradigm applied to the fishery field. It will address specific issues from a biorefinery perspective: (i) fish tissues and organs as potential sources of metabolites, antibiotics and probiotics; (ii) screening for bioactive compounds; (iii) extraction processes and innovative technologies for purification and chemical characterization; (iv) energy production technologies for the exhausted biomass. We provide a general perspective on the techno-economic feasibility and the environmental footprint of the production process, as well as on the definition of legal constraints for the new products production and commercial use.

Fishery Wastes as a Yet Undiscovered Treasure from the Sea: Biomolecules Sources, Extraction Methods and Valorization.

Food production and processing in developing countries generate high levels of waste and byproducts, causing a negative environmental impact and significant expenses. However, these biomaterials have ample potential for generating food additives and helping to minimize malnutrition and hunger in the developing countries where they are produced. Many of these biomaterials are a source of valuable compounds such as proteins, lipids, starch, micronutrients, bioactive compounds and dietary fibers. Additionally, antinutritional factors present in some byproducts can be minimized with biotech alternatives for use as a food additive or in the formulation of balanced foods. In this context, the use of these biomaterials is a challenge and a great opportunity to improve food security. The purpose of this review is to present the potential of food waste and byproducts as a sustainable alternative to reduce malnutrition and hunger in developing countries; some examples and perspectives are mentioned.

/pdf/food-waste-and-byproducts-an-opportunity-to-minimize-vo8nkvkd39.pdf

Maria Villarreal-Vázquez

Papers

Food Waste and Byproducts: An Opportunity to Minimize Malnutrition and Hunger in Developing Countries