Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods II

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Security and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 19466

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
Interests: antioxidants; polyphenols; natural antimicrobials; lipid oxidation; shelf-life of food products; byproduct valorization; mass spectrometry; liquid and gas chromatography; texture analysis; sensory evaluation
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Guest Editor
Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS) – Università degli Studi di Milano, via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: process analytical technology (PAT) applied to food; food quality evaluation; food authentication; non-invasive technologies; e-sensing technologies; spectroscopy; image analysis; electronic nose; chemometrics
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Guest Editor
Department of Food and Drug, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy
Interests: food technology; ingredients; physical properties; sensory evaluation; food structure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rising challenges for food innovation and environmental issues have led to an increased interest in bioeconomy and more sustainable food production. In addition to these transitions, a growing number of consumers are shifting to more sustainable diets, preferring “clean label” items, e.g., minimally processed foods and natural products.

The food industry seems to already have the solution to tackle all these challenges. Indeed, among the agro-food by-products and waste discarded, most of them possess added-value compounds with high functionality and/or bioactivity. Their use represents a renewable source for originating functional compounds and ingredients to develop new added-value products, with a benefit for the entire food system.

The potential of high added-value ingredients spans a diverse range of applications allowing the development of products with enhanced nutritional value, improved technological and physicochemical features, increased shelf-life, as well as a good sensory profile. This paves the way for almost infinite upcycling strategies that we would like to collect in this Special Issue.

In this framework, we aim to collect original research articles and reviews on this topic, ranging from method development and optimization to the investigation and exploitation of agro-food byproducts for high value-added food production.

Dr. Graziana Difonzo
Dr. Silvia Grassi
Dr. Maria Paciulli
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • byproducts
  • circular economy
  • sustainability
  • clean label
  • antioxidants
  • shelf-life
  • natural preservatives
  • texturing agents
  • emulsifiers
  • antimicrobial activity
  • microstructure
  • sensory and consumer science

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 1487 KiB  
Article
Application of Rapeseed Meal Protein Isolate as a Supplement to Texture-Modified Food for the Elderly
by Gabriella Di Lena, Ann-Kristin Schwarze, Massimo Lucarini, Paolo Gabrielli, Altero Aguzzi, Roberto Caproni, Irene Casini, Stefano Ferrari Nicoli, Darleen Genuttis, Petra Ondrejíčková, Mahmoud Hamzaoui, Camille Malterre, Valentína Kafková and Alexandru Rusu
Foods 2023, 12(6), 1326; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061326 - 20 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3661
Abstract
Rapeseed meal (RSM), a by-product of rapeseed oil extraction, is currently used for low-value purposes. With a biorefinery approach, rapeseed proteins may be extracted and recovered for high-end uses to fully exploit their nutritional and functional properties. This study reports the application of [...] Read more.
Rapeseed meal (RSM), a by-product of rapeseed oil extraction, is currently used for low-value purposes. With a biorefinery approach, rapeseed proteins may be extracted and recovered for high-end uses to fully exploit their nutritional and functional properties. This study reports the application of RSM protein isolate, the main output of a biorefining process aimed at recovering high-value molecules from rapeseed meal, as a supplement to texture-modified (TM) food designed for elderly people with mastication and dysphagia problems. The compositional (macronutrients by Official Methods of Analyses, and mineral and trace element profiles using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry ICP-OES), nutritional and sensory evaluations of TM chicken breast, carrots and bread formulated without and with RSM protein supplementation (5% w/w) are hereby reported. The results show that the texture modification of food combined with rapeseed protein isolate supplementation has a positive impact on the nutritional and sensory profile of food, meeting the special requirements of seniors. TM chicken breast and bread supplemented with RSM protein isolate showed unaltered or even improved sensory properties and a higher nutrient density, with particular regard to proteins (+20–40%) and minerals (+10–16%). Supplemented TM carrots, in spite of the high nutrient density, showed a limited acceptability, due to poor sensory properties that could be overcome with an adjustment to the formulation. This study highlights the potentialities of RSM as a sustainable novel protein source in the food sector. The application of RSM protein proposed here is in line with the major current challenges of food systems such as the responsible management of natural resources, the valorization of agri-food by-products, and healthy nutrition with focus on elderly people. Full article
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11 pages, 1111 KiB  
Article
Protease-Assisted Mild Extraction of Soluble Fibre and Protein from Fruit By-Products: A Biorefinery Perspective
by Andrea Fuso, Pio Viscusi, Susanna Larocca, Francesco Saverio Sangari, Veronica Lolli and Augusta Caligiani
Foods 2023, 12(1), 148; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12010148 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2664
Abstract
By-products from the fruit supply chain, especially seeds/kernels, have shown great potential to be valorised, due to their high content of macronutrients, such as lipids, protein, and fibre. A mild enzymatic assisted extraction (EAE) involving the use of a protease was tested to [...] Read more.
By-products from the fruit supply chain, especially seeds/kernels, have shown great potential to be valorised, due to their high content of macronutrients, such as lipids, protein, and fibre. A mild enzymatic assisted extraction (EAE) involving the use of a protease was tested to evaluate the feasibility of a cascade approach to fractionate the main fruit by-products components. Protease from Bacillus licheniformis (the enzyme used in the AOAC 991.43 official method for dietary fibre quantification) was used, and besides protein, the conditions of hydrolysis (60 °C, neutral pH, overnight) allowed us to dissolve a portion of soluble fibres, which was then separated from the solubilized peptide fraction through ethanol precipitation. Good protein extraction yields, in the range 35–93%, were obtained. The soluble fibre extraction yield ranged from 1.6% to 71% depending on the by-product, suggesting its applicability only for certain substrates, and it was found to be negatively correlated with the molecular weight of the fibre. The monosaccharide composition of the soluble fibres extracted was also diverse. Galacturonic acid was present in a low amount, indicating that pectin was not efficiently extracted. However, a predominance of arabinose and galactose monomers was detected in many fractions, indicating the isolation of a fruit soluble fibre portion with potential similarity with arabinogalactans and gum arabic, opening up perspectives for technological applications. The residual solid pellet obtained after protease assisted extraction was found to be an excellent fibre-rich substrate, suitable for being subjected to more “hard” processing (e.g., sequential pectin and hemicellulose extraction) with the objective to derive other fractions with potential great added economic value. Full article
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18 pages, 1421 KiB  
Article
Phenolic Profile and the Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Antimicrobial Properties of Açaí (Euterpe oleracea) Meal: A Prospective Study
by Anna Paula de Souza Silva, Adriano Costa de Camargo, Josy Goldoni Lazarini, Marcelo Franchin, Janaina de Cassia Orlandi Sardi, Pedro Luiz Rosalen and Severino Matias de Alencar
Foods 2023, 12(1), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12010086 - 24 Dec 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4744
Abstract
The mechanical extraction of oils from Brazilian açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart) produces significant amounts of a byproduct known as “meal”, which is frequently discarded in the environment as waste material. Nevertheless, plant byproducts, especially those from oil extraction, may contain residual polyphenols [...] Read more.
The mechanical extraction of oils from Brazilian açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart) produces significant amounts of a byproduct known as “meal”, which is frequently discarded in the environment as waste material. Nevertheless, plant byproducts, especially those from oil extraction, may contain residual polyphenols in their composition and be a rich source of natural bioactive compounds. In this study, the phenolic composition and in vitro biological properties of a hydroethanolic açaí meal extract were elucidated. The major compounds tentatively identified in the extract by high-resolution mass spectrometry were anthocyanins, flavones, and flavonoids. Furthermore, rhamnocitrin is reported in an açaí byproduct for the first time. The extract showed reducing power and was effective in scavenging the ABTS radical cation (820.0 µmol Trolox equivalent∙g−1) and peroxyl radical (975.7 µmol Trolox equivalent∙g−1). NF-κB activation was inhibited at 10 or 100 µg∙mL−1 and TNF-α levels were reduced at 100 µg∙mL−1. However, the antibacterial effects against ESKAPE pathogens was not promising due to the high concentration needed (1250 or 2500 µg∙mL−1). These findings can be related to the diverse polyphenol-rich extract composition. To conclude, the polyphenol-rich extract obtained from açaí meal showed relevant biological activities that may have great applicability in the food and nutraceutical industries. Full article
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Review

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34 pages, 1491 KiB  
Review
Extraction, Composition, Functionality, and Utilization of Brewer’s Spent Grain Protein in Food Formulations
by Bhanu Devnani, Galo Chuchuca Moran and Lutz Grossmann
Foods 2023, 12(7), 1543; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12071543 - 5 Apr 2023
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 7693
Abstract
In recent years, brewer’s spent grain (BSG) has gained attention as a plant-based protein source because it occurs in large quantities as a by-product of beer brewing. BSG can contribute to future food requirements and support the development of a circular economy. In [...] Read more.
In recent years, brewer’s spent grain (BSG) has gained attention as a plant-based protein source because it occurs in large quantities as a by-product of beer brewing. BSG can contribute to future food requirements and support the development of a circular economy. In light of the dynamic developments in this area, this review aims to understand the proteins present in BSG, and the effect of extraction techniques and conditions on the composition, physicochemical, and techno-functional properties of the obtained protein extracts. The water-insoluble hordeins and glutelins form the major protein fractions in BSG. Depending on the beer brewing process, the extraction technique, and conditions, the BSG protein isolates predominantly contain B, C, and ϒ hordeins, and exhibit a broad molecular weight distribution ranging between <5 kDa and >250 kDa. While the BSG isolates obtained through chemical extraction methods seem promising to obtain gelled food products, physical and enzymatic modifications of BSG proteins through ultrasound and proteolytic hydrolysis offer an effective way to produce soluble and functional protein isolates with good emulsifying and foaming capabilities. Specifically tailored protein extracts to suit different applications can thus be obtained from BSG, highlighting that it is a highly valuable protein source. Full article
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