Next-Generation Valorization of Agri-Food Byproducts and Waste: Precision Bioprocessing, Circular Bioeconomy, and High-Value Functional Ingredients

Dear Colleagues,

The global agri-food sector generates billions of tons of byproducts and fresh produce waste annually, yet these underutilized biomass resources represent a vast reservoir of nutrients, dietary fiber, proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, and structurally diverse bioactive phytochemicals with significant potential for developing next-generation food ingredients. Transitioning from the traditional linear economy toward a circular bioeconomy requires innovative strategies that transform agricultural residues, food processing byproducts, and surplus produce into high-value functional ingredients, nutraceuticals, and sustainable biomaterials. This transformation is increasingly driven by advances in green and precision bioprocessing technologies, including ultrasound-, microwave-, pulsed electric field-, enzyme-, and supercritical fluid-assisted extraction, precision fermentation, microbial biotransformation, and integrated biorefinery approaches that maximize resource utilization while minimizing environmental impacts.

Recent developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital twins, and multi-omics technologies (metabolomics, microbiomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics) are accelerating the discovery, characterization, and optimization of bioactive compounds and enabling predictive process design for sustainable food manufacturing. These technologies facilitate the development of tailored functional ingredients with enhanced bioavailability, stability, and health-promoting properties through advanced delivery systems such as nano- and microencapsulation. Furthermore, growing interest in Food as Medicine, personalized nutrition, gut microbiome modulation, postbiotics, alternative proteins, and climate-resilient food systems is creating unprecedented opportunities to integrate agri-food waste valorization into future health-promoting and sustainable food production systems.

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and comprehensive reviews that advance the science and technology of agri-food waste valorization. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, innovative extraction and bioprocessing technologies; precision fermentation and microbial bioconversion; AI-enabled process optimization; multi-omics-guided characterization of bioactive compounds; food waste biorefineries; sustainable ingredient development; functional foods and nutraceuticals; bioavailability and health benefits of recovered phytochemicals; smart encapsulation and delivery systems; food safety and regulatory considerations; consumer acceptance; life cycle assessment; techno-economic analysis; and translational approaches that support commercialization and the development of resilient, low-carbon, and circular food systems.

Prof. Dr. H. P. Vasantha Rupasinghe
Guest Editor

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