Valorization of Agro-Industrial Waste for the Production of High-value Components using Green Technology

Abstract

Food waste is a major socioeconomic issue all over the world. Around one-third of the total produce is wasted each year amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes. The Agri-food industry is a major producer of by-products from food waste including whole fruits and vegetables rejected or discarded during processing, overproduction, and low-market value produce. This agro-food rejects contain a significant number of bioactive components such as natural pigments, phytochemicals, phenolic, and antioxidant compounds of high commercial value. A bio-refinery concept was used for the complete valorization of agro-industry waste that allows the extraction of high-value components to improve overall environmental sustainability and food security. This study focuses on the valorization of two different food waste streams- one waste obtained during post-harvest processing and the other the fresh produce that has a low market value. For the valorization of these rejects/ by-products, green extraction technologies were used to get clean and high-value bioactive components with therapeutic use. Green technologies such as microwave and ultrasound-assisted extraction in combination with Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) solvents promoted the best recovery yield of bioactive components from carrot rejects. Further, another study was conducted to encapsulate these photo and thermo-sensitive high-value bioactive components and to increase their stability at normal conditions. Co-crystallization of carrots rejects bioactive components (carotenoids and antioxidants) increased their stability so that they can be directly used as a food colorant, sweetener, and antioxidant in different food formulations. Further, another study was done to explore the high-value bioactive components from less commercial-importance fresh produce. This study evaluated the comprehensive analysis of physicochemical characteristics, bioactive components, and volatile profile of 10 different sour cherry cultivars, the results of which revealed that dark-colored cultivars were a rich source of phenolic components and antioxidant activity. A total of 10 phenolic components including 5 hydroxycinnamic acids, 4 flavonols, and one anthocyanin were identified in sour-cherry cultivars. Further, by using, high-throughput metabolomics numerous metabolites were quantified that can be used as health-promoting components. Thus we were able to provide economic value to the underutilized and low commercial-value agricultural produce with the extraction of high-value components of medicinal use.