Valorization of Waste Through Antioxidant Extraction and Utilization

A special issue of Antioxidants (ISSN 2076-3921). This special issue belongs to the section "Extraction and Industrial Applications of Antioxidants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 1947

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Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Technologies, University of Castilla-La Mancha,13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Interests: green chemistry; valorization of food waste; microwaves; waste management; RMN
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Valorization is the conversion of waste into useful materials with a particular focus on environmental indicators and sustainability goals. In the current era, wastes from different agricultural and food industries have created serious environmental issues. There are various types of food industries (meat, dairy products, baked, snack foods, beverages, and frozen foods) that produce a lot of waste. However, there are different types of waste including solids and liquids that are composed of a lot of bioactive compounds such as antioxidants, polyphenols, polysaccharides, peptides, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Furthermore, the major sources of plant-based food wastes are peel, seeds, pomace, and leaves. Currently, researchers and industrialists have focused on managing waste in meaningful ways by recycling or developing composite materials. Recent technologies are used to make value-added by-products from different types of waste extracts. For this purpose, different techniques are used to extract, separate, and recover bioactive compounds, especially antioxidants. Furthermore, various advanced and conventional methods are used to extract antioxidants from food waste. However, currently, industrialists and researchers prefer to use green and eco-friendly techniques due to their increased yield and better efficiency.

We invite you to submit current research and review papers for this Special Issue, which will cover the valorization of different types of waste, as waste can be used to extract antioxidants and utilized in different value-added products. This research can include both extraction and utilization relating to the following ideas: valorization of waste, eco-friendly green extraction techniques, innovative technologies, in vitro study of antioxidants, by-products, food products development, shelf stability, and biomass production.

Prof. Dr. Andrés Moreno
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • valorization
  • waste management
  • green extraction
  • antioxidants
  • value-added products
  • by-products

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2570 KiB  
Article
Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Cutlassfish Head Peptone in RAW 264.7 Macrophages
by Su-Jin Lee, Jeonghyeon Im, Svini Dileepa Marasinghe, Eunyoung Jo, Minthari Sakethanika Bandara, Youngdeuk Lee, Jaewon Lee, Gun-Hoo Park and Chulhong Oh
Antioxidants 2025, 14(3), 286; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox14030286 - 27 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 535
Abstract
The rapid growth of the fisheries industry has resulted in numerous by-products, usually called waste, causing environmental and economic challenges. Recent advances in valorization techniques have highlighted the potential of these by-products as sources of bioactive compounds. This study aimed to investigate the [...] Read more.
The rapid growth of the fisheries industry has resulted in numerous by-products, usually called waste, causing environmental and economic challenges. Recent advances in valorization techniques have highlighted the potential of these by-products as sources of bioactive compounds. This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of cutlassfish (Trichiurus lepturus) head peptone (CP) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. CP exhibited significant antioxidant activity, reducing ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activity by up to 79.66% and 64.69%, respectively, with a maximum ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) value of 224.54 μM. CP enhanced macrophage proliferation (33.3%) and significantly mitigated LPS-induced oxidative and inflammatory responses, reducing nitric oxide (NO) production (60%) and reactive oxygen species levels (49.14%). CP suppressed the expression of inflammatory mediators, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygen-ase-2, and selectively inhibited the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6. Western blot analysis revealed that CP inhibited the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases, including ERK, JNK, and p38, highlighting its role in modulating upstream inflammatory signaling pathways. CP exhibited significant antioxidant effects, particularly in scavenging ABTS and DPPH radicals, as well as reducing oxidative stress markers and inflammatory responses in LPS-stimulated macrophages. These findings suggest its potential not only as a therapeutic agent for conditions related to chronic inflammation, such as cardiovascular diseases and arthritis, but also as a functional ingredient in foods and nutraceuticals aimed at alleviating inflammation-related disorders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Waste Through Antioxidant Extraction and Utilization)
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27 pages, 4212 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Polyphenol Extraction from Purple Corn Pericarp Using Glycerol/Lactic Acid-Based Deep Eutectic Solvent in Combination with Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction
by Ravinder Kumar, Sherry Flint-Garcia, Miriam Nancy Salazar Vidal, Lakshmikantha Channaiah, Bongkosh Vardhanabhuti, Stephan Sommer, Caixia Wan and Pavel Somavat
Antioxidants 2025, 14(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox14010009 - 25 Dec 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 937
Abstract
Purple corn pericarp, a processing waste stream, is an extremely rich source of phytochemicals. Optimal polyphenol extraction parameters were identified using response surface methodology (RSM) by combining a deep eutectic solvent (DES) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method. After DES characterization, Plackett–Burman design was [...] Read more.
Purple corn pericarp, a processing waste stream, is an extremely rich source of phytochemicals. Optimal polyphenol extraction parameters were identified using response surface methodology (RSM) by combining a deep eutectic solvent (DES) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method. After DES characterization, Plackett–Burman design was used to screen five explanatory variables, namely, time, Temp (temperature), water, Amp (amplitude), and S/L (solid-to-liquid ratio). The total anthocyanin concentration (TAC), total polyphenol concentration (TPC), and condensed tannin (CT) concentration were the response variables. After identifying significant factors, the Box–Behnken design was utilized to identify the optimal extraction parameters. The experimental yields under the optimized conditions of time (10 min), temperature (60 °C), water concentration (42.73%), and amplitude (40%) were 36.31 ± 1.54 g of cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G), 103.16 ± 6.17 g of gallic acid (GA), and 237.54 ± 9.98 g of epicatechin (EE) per kg of pericarp, with a desirability index of 0.858. The relative standard error among the predicted and experimental yields was <10%, validating the robustness of the model. HPLC analysis identified seven phytochemicals, and significant antioxidant activities were observed through four distinct assays. Metabolomic profiling identified 57 unique phytochemicals. The UAE technique combined with DES can efficiently extract polyphenols from purple corn pericarp in a short time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Waste Through Antioxidant Extraction and Utilization)
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