Potential of Onion Byproducts as a Sustainable Source of Dietary Fiber and Antioxidant Compounds for Its Application as a Functional Ingredient ^†

Onion is one of the main crops in the world and there has been an increase in the demand for processed onion in the form of frozen and freeze-dried chopped onion in the last decade, with a detrimental impact on the environment. Onion byproducts (tops and bottoms of onion bulbs, onion skins, and undersized, malformed, diseased, or damaged bulbs) are a rich source of dietary fiber and bioactive compounds, representing a sustainable alternative to the use of traditional ingredients in the formulation of food products for the application of the circular economy concept. The aim of this work was to study the potential of onion byproducts as a functional ingredient by determining their in vitro bioactive properties. For the onion byproducts—skin (OS) and pulp with 9% of skin (OP)—proximal analysis was performed (AOAC, 1999): moisture, ash, proteins, fat, total dietary fiber (TDF) and total carbohydrates by difference. Bioactive properties were assessed by determining the total phenolic compounds (TPC, Folin–Ciocalteu method), antioxidant capacity (ABTS, ORAC-FL, and HORAC methods), and α-glucosidase inhibition capacity. Among the most relevant results of the proximate analysis, OS showed 70 ± 3% of TDF. OS showed the highest TPC (113 ± 7 mg GAE/g) and antioxidant capacity (699 ± 94 and 1782 ± 92 µmolTE/g for the ABTS and ORAC-FL methods, respectively, and 46 ± 2 mg chlorogenic acid/g for the HORAC method; p < 0.05), as well as the highest α-glucosidase inhibition capacity (lowest IC₅₀, 447 ± 40 and 625 ± 58 µg/mL for OS and OP, respectively). In conclusion, onion byproducts present potential as a functional ingredient because of the evaluated health-promoting effects, with a subsequent positive environmental impact by applying the circular economy concept.