Search Results (2,528)

Recently, the problem of food waste management has attracted the attention of producers, processors, retailers, and consumers due to economic, environmental, food safety, and sustainability consequences, affecting the entire food supply chain. This article reviews data on food waste of animal origin at different stages along the production and transformation systems, from an environmental, economic, or social perspective. Results show differences between developed and developing countries. While in developed countries, most waste occurs at the end of the food chain, in developing countries, most waste occurs in primary production and transportation. Food waste is very expressive in production and retail, but also in final consumption in households and food services. Mitigating measures include upcycling, i.e., recovering valuable food components for industrial use with economic and environmental benefits, and alternatives for food waste reutilization. The role of the consumer is unquestionable, particularly when shopping for food for the household or when consuming food in restaurants or canteens. Hence, it is crucial to understand the behaviours leading to food waste as a way to reduce it and implement strategies to effectively reduce food waste at various levels. The role of education, regulation, and policies is pivotal in achieving minimal food waste. Full article

Agri-food byproducts are increasingly recognized as sustainable feedstocks for high-value bioactive compounds; but their practical valorization requires integrated evidence on recovery conditions; chemical composition; bioactivity; and application readiness. This review critically examines green recovery strategies and chemical profiling platforms for bioactive compounds recovered from peels; pomace; seed residues; hulls; vegetation waters; and pruning waste. Emphasis is placed on how extraction variables shape chemical profiles; extract quality; and reported biological activities. Ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction; enzyme- and fermentation-assisted recovery; supercritical fluid extraction; pressurized liquid extraction; pulsed electric field-assisted pretreatment; and green solvent-based extraction are discussed in terms of target-compound selectivity; solvent and energy demand; process safety; scalability; and sustainability-related evidence. Chromatographic; mass-spectrometric; spectroscopic; and metabolomics-based profiling approaches are evaluated for identification; annotation; quantification; fingerprinting; quality-marker selection; and standardization; with confidence levels distinguished according to authentic-standard matching; tandem mass spectrometry evidence; spectral libraries; or fingerprint-level evidence. Circular valorization pathways in food; nutraceutical; cosmetic; pharmaceutical, and biopesticide-related applications are further considered with attention to feedstock heterogeneity; process standardization; stability; safety; regulatory feasibility; scalability; and techno-economic feasibility. Overall; this review provides a linkage-oriented framework for developing standardized; application-readiness-oriented bioactive candidates from agri-food byproducts. Full article

Soil contamination by heavy metals (HMs) [or potential toxic elements (PTEs)] poses serious risks to ecosystems and human health. Metals persist in the environment and can reach groundwater and freshwater as part of the food-chain. In soils, anthropogenic inputs dominate over geogenic sources. Metal mobility is strongly controlled by factors such as pH, mineralogy, and erosion processes that transport metal-bearing clay fractions. Wind and water can transport soil, mainly clay particles that can usually bind contaminants such as HMs. Using waste material is a tool suggested from the circular economy, so waste becomes a valuable resource. This study evaluates the immobilization efficiency of several heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) using phosphate amendments—synthetic hydroxyapatite, phosphatic rock from Florida and Morocco—applied to a brownfield site. Heavy metal immobilization followed a two-step mechanism: first rapid surface complexation and secondly partial dissolution of hydroxyapatite and ion exchange with Ca, leading to the precipitation of metal-substituted hydroxyapatite phases. Synthetic hydroxyapatite generally shows the best efficiency, whereas phosphatic rocks were less effective but still provided a measurable immobilization. From a circular economy perspective, however, phosphatic rocks remain attractive due to their lower cost, availability, and waste-valorization potential. Full article

The valorization of lignocellulosic residues into bioactive and biodegradable materials offers a sustainable route for functional food packaging. In this study, hazelnut shells were exploited through an integrated process enabling the integrated recovery of polyphenols and cellulose. Polyphenols were extracted via hot water, liquid–liquid partitioning, and column chromatography, yielding a purified bioactive fraction. The residual biomass after polyphenol recovery was used for cellulose extraction (approximately 23% w/w) and converted into carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with a degree of substitution (DS) of 0.77. Active CMC films incorporating polyphenolic extracts exhibited improved mechanical performance, reaching tensile strengths of about 78 MPa and elongation at break values above 20%, while reducing water solubility to approximately 31%. The addition of carnauba wax further enhanced water resistance while modulating flexibility and stiffness. Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses confirmed the conversion of crystalline cellulose into amorphous CMC and the successful incorporation of additives within the polymer matrix. The resulting films showed tunable mechanical, optical, and barrier properties, along with UV-blocking and antioxidant activity. These findings demonstrate that hazelnut shell-derived CMC films enriched with polyphenols and carnauba wax represent promising candidates for a sustainable platform for active food packaging applications, supporting a circular waste-to-value approach. Full article

This study addresses the critical challenge of food waste in the hospitality sector, directly contributing to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3. We conducted an intervention at a community-based culinary innovation center involving 18 participants. The research integrated the Collaborative System Model (CSM)—a framework that facilitates multi-stakeholder co-creation through knowledge interaction and feedback loops—into a Participatory Design (PD) process. Results demonstrated that the intervention reduced fruit waste mass by 72% per session and increased byproduct reuse rates from 15% to 68%. Sensory evaluations confirmed that these waste-reduction practices did not compromise product quality (p > 0.05). This approach provides a behavior-anchored unit process for pre-consumer waste reporting. Full article

Agro-industrial wastes are abundant, low-cost feedstocks used for the sustainable production of prebiotic oligosaccharides via enzymatic methods. This review summarizes recent advances, with particular emphasis on studies published after 2020, in the enzymatic valorization of these by-products, highlighting pretreatment strategies, enzyme classifications, and reaction conditions for converting complex substrates into functional prebiotic ingredients. In parallel, pioneering studies are recognized as foundational work, as they offer key mechanistic insights and continue to play a key role in supporting the interpretation of recent advances in the field. The functionality of the resulting prebiotic oligosaccharides, assessed through various in vitro models, is discussed, with emphasis on their impact on the technological performance of different food matrices. Evidence from in vitro and human studies further illustrates the biological activity and added value of waste-derived prebiotic oligosaccharides. While enzymatic technologies demonstrate high efficiency and selectivity, the full potential of many agro-industrial wastes for bioconversion remains underexplored. Optimizing enzymatic processes and systematically assessing functionality are essential in order to fully harness these resources, supporting the development of innovative, value-added food products within a circular bioeconomy. This review provides an integrated platform linking prebiotic oligosaccharide production, functionality, and food applications, promoting the valorization of agro-industrial waste into high-value prebiotic ingredients. Full article

The high-rate biological contactor (HRBC) is an enhanced-primary, biosorption-based, carbon-diversion wastewater treatment process with short hydraulic retention time (HRT), short solids retention time (SRT), low dissolved oxygen (DO), and high food-to-microorganism ratio (F/M). This paper presents modifications to a commercial full-plant wastewater biodegradation model using extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in waste activated sludge (WAS) to simulate pilot test biosorption data. Bench-scale HRBC tests found that each mg of EPS as COD (COD_EPS) biosorbed 1.02 mg sCOD contained in raw wastewater. The fraction of AS organics identified as EPS in terms of COD was 37% in a conventional AS (CAS), 33% in a trickling filter-solids contact (TF/SC), and 18% in a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The modeling process used stoichiometry equations to convert EPS from its constituent concentrations (carbohydrates, proteins, humic acids, uronic acids) into COD. The conversion did not alter the finding that the normalized total EPS showed a positive relationship with soluble chemical oxygen demand sCOD biosorption with a 0.91 coefficient of determination. The modified commercial biodegradation model gave a maximum error of −12.6% when simulating pilot-scale results, and 80% of all data points were less than ±10% error. The modified model predicted 16% sCOD biosorption by EPS using the design data for a full-scale HRBC facility currently under construction. Full article

Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are generated in millions of tonnes annually due to rising global coffee consumption, posing significant challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions, waste-disposal problems, and the loss of valuable compounds like caffeine, dietary fibre, phenolics, antioxidants, proteins, and lipids, offering prospects for potential valorization. Its composition is influenced by several factors. This review focuses on recent advancements in the valorization of SCG across sectors such as food, nutraceuticals, bioenergy, and packaging. The emphasis is on pretreatment, extraction, and bioconversion methods, as well as current research gaps, limitations, and future directions. SCG valorization is oriented toward integrated, multi-product biorefinery systems based on green extraction and bioconversion technologies to recover high-value compounds in both the food and non-food sectors. Nonetheless, industrial scalability is limited by composition variability, energy-intensive processing, techno-economic constraints, and safety and regulatory issues that remain unresolved. The shortcomings, such as inadequate standardized characterization, toxicological validation, and pilot-scale studies, are critical gaps. Scalable, energy-efficient processes, AI-assisted optimization, and regulatory alignment development should be a priority in future research, so that sustainable and commercial deployment is possible. Full article

This study presents a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of an industrial sweet cherry sorting and packing facility in Greece, directly addressing environmental sustainability in agri-food supply chains through data-driven impact quantification and improvement pathways in post-harvest operations. The assessment focuses on a gate-to-gate system boundary encompassing all processes inside the cherry sorting and packing facility, while upstream cherry production and downstream waste management are modeled and reported separately to provide system-level context. Core-stage hotspots are then analyzed in detail in the Results section, highlighting the dominant role of electricity use compared with packaging materials. The functional unit is defined as 1 kg of packed, market-ready cherries at the factory gate. Primary data are obtained from high-resolution, batch-level measurements of mass flows, energy use, water consumption, packaging materials and waste streams over a full processing season, structured as virtual sensor outputs. These sensor-informed operational data are combined with secondary life cycle inventory information from established databases to quantify climate change impacts and identify environmental hotspots across materials, energy, water, and waste, thereby delivering a quantified picture of environmental performance in the post-harvest stage. The results show that corrugated cardboard and associated packaging components are among the main contributors within the facility-level, gate-to-gate system, while the Core stage accounts for 28.43% of total GWP100. Upstream cherry production dominates the overall Upstream–Core–Downstream climate footprint with 70.61% of total impacts. Moreover, practical mitigation scenarios are modeled, including packaging optimization, partial substitution of grid electricity with photovoltaic generation, and increased water recirculation. Ιn the combined mitigation scenario, where packaging optimization, low-carbon electricity and improved water management are implemented simultaneously, total GWP100 decreases from 114,207.32 to 92,500.27 kg CO₂-eq (−19.0%) relative to the baseline, providing actionable sustainability improvements for industry stakeholders and supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to climate action and resource efficiency. In addition, the proposed virtual sensor architecture and data workflow support continuous monitoring, eco-efficiency management and near-real-time LCA implementation in post-harvest agri-food systems, enabling operational sustainability. Full article

Breast cancer remains one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. The growing interest in natural bioactive compounds has highlighted plant-derived phytochemicals as promising agents for cancer prevention and adjunctive therapy due to their pleiotropic biological activities and relatively low toxicity. In parallel, increasing attention has been directed toward agro-industrial by-products generated during food processing, which represent abundant and sustainable sources of valuable phytochemicals. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the identification, extraction, and biological evaluation of phytochemicals derived from plants and agro-industrial residues, using pomegranate (Punica granatum) peels, onion (Allium cepa) skins, and citrus by-products as representative examples of phytochemical-rich agro-industrial residues. These by-products are rich in polyphenols, flavonoids, and other secondary metabolites—including punicalagins, ellagic acid, quercetin, hesperidin, and naringin—that have demonstrated significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that these compounds can modulate key molecular pathways involved in breast cancer initiation and progression, such as oxidative stress regulation, apoptosis induction, inhibition of cell proliferation, and suppression of signaling cascades including PI3K/Akt, NF-κB, and MAPK pathways. Furthermore, the valorization of agro-industrial waste offers a sustainable strategy to recover high-value bioactive compounds while reducing environmental impact. Overall, phytochemicals obtained from plant materials and food processing by-products represent promising functional agents for breast cancer prevention and therapy, although further studies are required to improve bioavailability, elucidate mechanisms of action, and validate their clinical potential. Full article

Food industry by-products represent an abundant and underexploited source of bioactive compounds, dietary fibers and proteins with significant potential for functional food development. Recent studies estimate that up to 30 to 50% of processed raw materials are discarded as by-products, while food waste contributes approximately 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to nearly 3.3 billion tons of CO₂ annually. This review critically evaluates advances (2015–2026) in the valorization of food industry by-products, with a focus on technological efficiency, health-related evidence, and environmental impact. Specifically, it addresses the following research question: to what extent do current valorization strategies provide measurable technological, nutritional, and environmental advantages over conventional food production systems? Emerging extraction technologies including ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction (20–40 kHz, 30–60 °C), supercritical fluid extraction (200–350 bar, 35–60 °C), enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation demonstrated improvements in extraction yields (up to 20–50% increases compared to conventional methods) and higher purity in the recovered compounds. These approaches enable the isolation of compounds such as pectins from citrus peels, polyphenols from grape pomace, galacto-oligosaccharides from dairy whey, and collagen from fish by-products. From an environmental perspective, valorization strategies can reduce waste disposal and associated emissions by up to 30%, depending on the scale and type of by-product processing. Furthermore, these approaches contribute directly to circular economy models and support multiple Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) and SDG 13 (climate action). However, challenges remain, including variability in raw material composition, scalability limitations, and the limited availability of high-quality clinical evidence supporting health benefits. By integrating nutritional potential, technological feasibility, and sustainability indicators, this review provides a comprehensive and critical assessment of the current state of by-product valorization and identifies key gaps for future research. Full article

The valorization of agri-food by-products generated during juice extraction represents a key strategy within circular economy frameworks, as it reduces the environmental impact of waste disposal while creating added value and improving the food supply chain. In this work, five betaine-based natural deep eutectic solvents (NaDES) differing in their hydrogen-bond donors, namely citric acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, glycerol, and ethylene glycol, were used for the green extraction of blueberry pomace, a largely underutilized by-product that is nevertheless rich in bioactive compounds. The extracts were characterized by liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array and tandem mass spectrometric detection, allowing targeted profiling of anthocyanins and non-anthocyanin phenolics, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, and phenolic aldehydes. The extraction performance of NaDES was benchmarked against conventional solvents (water and ethanol) to evaluate differences in selectivity and efficiency toward distinct phenolic classes. Antioxidant capacity was determined using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays. Among the NaDES systems, the betaine–citric acid NaDES extract exhibited notable phenolic recovery together with marked radical scavenging activity. After evaluating its inhibitory activity against elastase and tyrosinase, enzymes involved in the skin aging process, the selected NaDES extract was incorporated into a natural-based antiaging cosmetic formulation, and its main physicochemical properties were assessed to verify suitability for topical application. This study demonstrated that the use of NaDES represents an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach to transform blueberry by-products into high-value, safe, and ready-to-use cosmetic functional ingredients without the need for solvent removal. Full article

Waste cooking oils (WCO) are large-scale residual streams from domestic and industrial food processing. Their improper disposal poses severe environmental risks, yet their integration into the oleochemical sector offers a strategic opportunity for the green transition by substituting fossil-based feedstocks. This systematic review provides a comprehensive assessment of WCO valorization as a sustainable precursor for high-value products, specifically biopolymers, bioplasticizers, and biolubricants. The study followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, searching PubMed, Scopus, and MDPI databases (up to September 2025). The search strategy utilized combinations of keywords present in the title. Inclusion criteria focused on peer-reviewed chemical and biotechnological conversion pathways published in English within the last decade. Studies addressing biofuel production, patents, and review were excluded. Screening, data extraction, and qualitative risk of bias assessment, centered on experimental reproducibility and reporting transparency, were performed independently by multiple reviewers. From an initial pool of 2637 records, 87 studies met the eligibility criteria. The analysis reveals that polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) represent the most extensively researched pathway, followed by WCO-derived epoxides and innovative biolubricant formulations. While several studies report high conversion yields under optimized conditions, the transition from bench-scale to industrial implementation remains hindered by the heterogeneous composition of WCO and a lack of standardized pre-treatment protocols. WCO valorization shows transformative potential for the circular economy, offering a dual benefit of waste mitigation and sustainable material synthesis. However, future research must address scalability challenges and feedstock variability. This review identifies emerging trends and provides a roadmap for the industrial adoption of WCO-based processes in the framework of clean technologies. Full article

Bioeconomy is an important concept of economic development, supported at the highest political levels. However, its successful implementation calls for action within local markets. This study, therefore, examined the market readiness to engage in bioeconomy growth and emerging value chains in Italy, Slovenia, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria. The objectives were to assess the market readiness for placing novel bioproducts based on by-products and waste from primary production and agri-food processing sectors, and to evaluate the economics of their production. Specific goals were to estimate the availability of by-products and waste used for making new products, evaluate the main directions and trends in the use of by-products and waste, analyse the main barriers and restrictions to by-product and waste supplies to new enterprises and innovative applications, and make an economic assessment of the market entry of innovative products and their development. The study showed that the oil industry, with a high residue potential, was most often chosen to market new products. Other sectors where value chains can be created or modified are the fruit, winery, grain and milling, wood, hemp, and vegetable industries. PESTEL analysis demonstrated that economic factors, at both national and global levels, are the most common barriers to supplying by-products and waste to new business entities. Technological factors also significantly impede the delivery of by-products and waste to such new enterprises and their processing into novel products. In contrast, social conditions are the main factors stimulating supply of by-products and waste to such new plants. The results provide a preliminary insight into the Central European market and its enormous development potential, which is already implicated in the context of growing bioeconomy. Full article

Food production has significant environmental impacts, particularly those associated with animal-based products. One often overlooked aspect is the contribution of waste generated during food preparation and handling. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the environmental performance of two menus, one animal-based protein and the other on predominantly plant-based protein. The assessment included ingredient production, transportation, food preparation, and waste management. The functional unit was defined as “serving one meal to a student, consisting of a three-course menu”. The dataset corresponding to the inputs and outputs of each system was obtained from the Ecoinvent database (version 3.10), implemented in SimaPro v10.3.0.4. Impact categories were assessed using the ReCiPe Midpoint method. A total of 18 impact categories were evaluated, of which four were analyzed in greater detail. The results show that, for the animal-based menu, ecotoxicity is concentrated in a single dominant process—intensive pig production—whereas, for the plant-based menu, it is distributed across multiple secondary processes, primarily municipal solid waste management and industrial processing. Similar results were observed for global warming. Under the evaluated conditions, the assessment revealed that the plant-based menu had a higher environmental impact than the animal-based menu. Because this study included waste management and packaging, the environmental impact of the plant-based menu increased significantly. Full article