Submit to Foods Review for Foods Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

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

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 February 2022) | Viewed by 42707

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Graziana Difonzo

E-Mail Website
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
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Silvia Grassi

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, 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; multivariate data analysis; byproduct valorization; improved product shelf life
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Maria Paciulli

E-Mail Website
Co-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 bio-economy and more sustainable food production. Besides 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 for the development of products with enhanced nutritional value, improved technological and physico-chemical 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 at collecting original research articles and reviews on this topic, ranging from method development and optimization to the investigation and exploitation of agro-food by-products for high value-added food production.

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

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

By-products
Circular economy
Sustainability
Clean label
Antioxidants
Shelf-life
Natural preservatives
Texturing agents
Emulsifiers
Antimicrobial activity
Microstructure
Sensory and Consumer science

Published Papers (11 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

3 pages, 193 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

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

by Graziana Difonzo, Silvia Grassi and Maria Paciulli

Foods 2022, 11(14), 2043; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11142043 - 11 Jul 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1623

Abstract

Rising challenges for food innovation and environmental issues have led to an increased interest in bio-economy and more sustainable food production [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

12 pages, 813 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization and Effect of Refining on the Oil Extracted from Durum Wheat By-Products

by Giacomo Squeo, Roccangelo Silletti, Giulia Napoletano, Marcello Greco Miani, Graziana Difonzo, Antonella Pasqualone and Francesco Caponio

Foods 2022, 11(5), 683; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11050683 - 25 Feb 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2584

Abstract

Durum wheat is one of the most important cereal grains worldwide, used mostly for pasta making and bakery products. The by-products derived for the milling process, although very abundant, have only limited use. The aim of this work was to characterize the oils extracted from the by-products of debranning (DP) and milling processes (MP) of durum wheat and to follow the changes due to the refining process on the minor components. The results showed that DP had significantly higher oil content than MP, but it was characterized by a significantly lower amount of tocols. Polyunsaturated fatty acids content was similar (around 62% of total fatty acids). Consequently, a mixture of DP/MP (60/40 w/w) was chosen as a basis for further studies concerning the refining process. During refining, carotenoids almost disappeared while tocols were reduced by 24% on average. Free fatty acids, peroxide value, and oxidized triacylglycerols were significantly reduced by refining, while triacylglycerol oligopolymers were significantly higher than the crude oil. Durum wheat oil had an outstanding content of phytosterols and policosanols. Overall, the edible oil obtained from durum wheat after refining could be considered a good source of phytochemicals and could represent a valuable strategy to valorize the by-products from durum wheat mills. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 5981 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Asparagus Roots: From an Agricultural By-Product to a Valuable Source of Fructans

by Isabel Viera-Alcaide, Amel Hamdi, Rafael Guillén-Bejarano, Rocío Rodríguez-Arcos, Juan Antonio Espejo-Calvo and Ana Jiménez-Araujo

Foods 2022, 11(5), 652; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11050652 - 23 Feb 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2197

Abstract

Asparagus roots are by-products from asparagus cultivation and they could be considered one of the best sources of fructans. These polymers are interesting food ingredients for their prebiotic and immuno-stimulating characteristics. The aim of this work is to characterize the fructan profile from the roots of several asparagus varieties grown at different locations and pickled at three vegetative statuses in order to valorize these by-products as fructan source. Fructans were extracted with hot water and fractionated into three pools according to their molecular weight (MW). Their average MW was studied by HPSEC and their degree of polymerization by HPAEC. The fructan content was up to 12.5% on fresh weight basis, depending on variety and sampling date. The relative abundance of the three pools also depended on the picking moment as after the spear harvest period their total content and MW increased. The average MW of the three fractions was similar among varieties with 4.8, 8.4 and 9 sugar units, although fructans up to 30 units were identified by HPAEC. These characteristics make them similar to the commercialized Orafti^®-GR inulin, a common additive to food products. Therefore, the concept of asparagus roots as cultivation waste must be changed to a new feedstock for sustainable agriculture and industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

29 pages, 5784 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lignocellulose-Degrading Enzymes: A Biotechnology Platform for Ferulic Acid Production from Agro-Industrial Side Streams

by Vitalijs Radenkovs, Karina Juhnevica-Radenkova, Jorens Kviesis, Danija Lazdina, Anda Valdovska, Fernando Vallejo and Gunars Lacis

Foods 2021, 10(12), 3056; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10123056 - 08 Dec 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3281

Abstract

Biorefining by enzymatic hydrolysis (EH) of lignocellulosic waste material due to low costs and affordability has received enormous interest amongst scientists as a potential strategy suitable for the production of bioactive ingredients and chemicals. In this study, a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to extracting bound ferulic acid (FA) was demonstrated using single-step EH by a mixture of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes. For comparative purposes of the efficiency of EH, an online extraction and analysis technique using supercritical fluid extraction–supercritical fluid chromatography–mass spectrometry (SFE-SFC-MS) was performed. The experimental results demonstrated up to 369.3 mg 100 g⁻¹ FA release from rye bran after 48 h EH with Viscozyme L. The EH of wheat and oat bran with Viscoferm for 48 h resulted in 255.1 and 33.5 mg 100 g⁻¹ of FA, respectively. The release of FA from bran matrix using supercritical fluid extraction with carbon dioxide and ethanol as a co-solvent (SFE-CO₂-EtOH) delivered up to 464.3 mg 100 g⁻¹ of FA, though the extractability varied depending on the parameters used. The 10-fold and 30-fold scale-up experiments confirmed the applicability of EH as a bioprocessing method valid for the industrial scale. The highest yield of FA in both scale-up experiments was obtained from rye bran after 48 h of EH with Viscozyme L. In purified extracts, the absence of xylose, arabinose, and glucose as the final degradation products of lignocellulose was proven by high-performance liquid chromatography with refractive index detection (HPLC-RID). Up to 94.0% purity of FA was achieved by solid-phase extraction (SPE) using the polymeric reversed-phase Strata X column and 50% EtOH as the eluent. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

11 pages, 2878 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Salmon Frame Proteins through Different By-Product/Water Ratios and pH Regimes

by Pedro Valencia, Silvana Valdivia, Suleivys Nuñez, Reza Ovissipour, Marlene Pinto, Cristian Ramirez, Alvaro Perez, Manuel Ruz, Paula Garcia, Paula Jimenez and Sergio Almonacid

Foods 2021, 10(12), 3045; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10123045 - 08 Dec 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2583

Abstract

The enzymatic hydrolysis of fish by-product proteins is traditionally carried out by mixing ground by-products with water. In addition, pH control is used to avoid pH drops. Higher costs are involved due to the use of pH control systems and the consequent energy cost in the drying stage. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of these conditions on the hydrolysis of salmon frame (SF) proteins, including the SF hydrolysis without added water. SF hydrolysis by subtilisin at 50, 75, and 100% SF under different pH regimes were evaluated by released α-amino (α-NH) groups, total nitrogen, degree of hydrolysis, and estimated peptide chain length (PCL) at 55 °C. The concentration of released α-NH groups was higher in the conditions with less added water. However, the nitrogen recovery decreased from 50 to 24% at 50 and 100% SF, respectively. Changing the SF/water ratio had a more significant effect than changing the pH regime. Estimated PCL changed from 5–7 to 7–9 at 50 and 100% SF, respectively. The operating conditions affected the hydrolysis performance and the molecular characteristics of the hydrolysate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

13 pages, 1039 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Characteristics of Quark Cheese Made from Buttermilk during Refrigerated Storage

by Katarzyna Szkolnicka, Izabela Dmytrów and Anna Mituniewicz-Małek

Foods 2021, 10(8), 1783; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10081783 - 31 Jul 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2578

Abstract

The dairy industry releases huge amounts of by-products. One of them is buttermilk, obtained during butter production. This by-product is characterized by high nutritional and technological value and is finding more and more applications in food production. This study aimed to produce and analyze the characteristics of quark cheese obtained entirely from buttermilk during 3-week refrigerated (4 ± 1 °C) storage. Four kinds of sour buttermilk were used: two from industrial butter production, and another two from butter production at laboratory scale. Laboratory buttermilk differs in the kind of starter culture used in the production. The evaluation of cheese quality properties included physicochemical analyses, texture measurement, and sensory assessment. The results showed that the kind of buttermilk used in production influences the acidity, total solids, textural characteristics, and fat content of the obtained quark cheeses. All obtained cheeses had very high sensory quality throughout the storage period. The study indicates that buttermilk may be successfully used as a substitution for milk in quark cheese production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 3044 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Feruloyl Esterase from Bacillus pumilus SK52.001 and Its Application in Ferulic Acid Production from De-Starched Wheat Bran

by Xiaoli Duan, Yiwei Dai and Tao Zhang

Foods 2021, 10(6), 1229; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10061229 - 28 May 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2746

Abstract

Feruloyl esterase (FAE; EC 3.1.1.73) catalyzes the hydrolysis of the 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamoyl group in an esterified sugar to assist in waste biomass degradation or to release ferulic acid (FA). An FAE-producing strain was isolated from humus soil samples and identified as Bacillus pumilus SK52.001. The BpFAE gene from B. pumilus SK52.001 was speculated and heterogeneously expressed in Bacillus subtilis WB800 for the first time. The enzyme exists as a monomer with 303 amino acids and a molecular mass of 33.6 kDa. Its specific activity was 377.9 ± 10.3 U/(mg protein), using methyl ferulate as a substrate. It displays an optimal alkaline pH of 9.0, an optimal temperature of 50 °C, and half-lives of 1434, 327, 235, and 68 min at 50, 55, 60, and 65 °C, respectively. Moreover, the purified BpFAE released 4.98% FA of the alkali-acidic extractable FA from de-starched wheat bran (DSWB). When the DSWB was enzymatically degraded by the synergistic effect of the BpFAE and commercial xylanase, the FA amount reached 49.47%. It suggested that the alkaline BpFAE from B. pumilus SK52.001, which was heterologously expressed in B. subtilis WB800, possesses great potential for biomass degradation and achieving high-added value FA production from food by-products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research

10 pages, 875 KiB

Open AccessReview

Fungal Biovalorization of a Brewing Industry Byproduct, Brewer’s Spent Grain: A Review

by Andrew Marcus and Glen Fox

Foods 2021, 10(9), 2159; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10092159 - 13 Sep 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3420

Abstract

The beer industry is a major producer of solid waste globally, primarily in the form of brewer’s spent grain (BSG), which due to its low value has historically been diverted to livestock as feed or to landfills. However, its high moisture content and chemical composition positions BSG as an ideal candidate for further processing with microbial fermentation. Recent research has focused on filamentous fungi and the ability of some species therein to degrade the predominant recalcitrant cellulolignin components of BSG to produce valuable compounds. Many species have been investigated to biovalorize this waste stream, including those in the genuses Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhyzopus, and Trichoderma, which have been used to produce a wide array of highly valuable enzymes and other functional compounds, and to increase the nutritional value of BSG as an animal feed. This review of recent developments in the application of filamentous fungi for the valorization of BSG discusses the biochemical makeup of BSG, the biological mechanisms underlying fungi’s primacy to this application, and the current applications of fungi in this realm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 1038 KiB

Open AccessReview

Potential Valorization of Hazelnut Shells through Extraction, Purification and Structural Characterization of Prebiotic Compounds: A Critical Review

by Andrea Fuso, Davide Risso, Ginevra Rosso, Franco Rosso, Federica Manini, Ileana Manera and Augusta Caligiani

Foods 2021, 10(6), 1197; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10061197 - 26 May 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5301

Abstract

Hazelnuts are one of the most widely consumed nuts, but their production creates large quantities of by-products, especially shells, that could be upcycled into much more valuable products. Recent studies have shown that hazelnut shell hemicellulose is particularly rich in compounds that are potential precursors of xylooligosaccharides and arabino-xylooligosaccharides ((A)XOS), previously defined as emerging prebiotics very beneficial for human health. The production of these compounds on an industrial scale-up could have big consequences on the functional foods market. However, to produce (A)XOS from a lignocellulosic biomass, such as hazelnut shell, is not easy. Many methods for the extraction and the purification of these prebiotics have been developed, but they all have different efficiencies and consequences, including on the chemical structure of the obtained (A)XOS. The latter, in turn, is strongly correlated to the nutritional effects they have on health, which is why the optimization of the structural characterization process is also necessary. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the progress made by research in this field, so as to contribute to the exploitation of hazelnut waste streams through a circular economy approach, increasing the value of this biomass through the production of new functional ingredients. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

14 pages, 1079 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Fermentation of Agri-Food Waste: A Promising Route for the Production of Aroma Compounds

by Jasmine Hadj Saadoun, Gaia Bertani, Alessia Levante, Fabio Vezzosi, Annalisa Ricci, Valentina Bernini and Camilla Lazzi

Foods 2021, 10(4), 707; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10040707 - 26 Mar 2021

Cited by 48 | Viewed by 7197

Abstract

Food waste and byproducts are generated along the entire food processing and storage chain. The large amount of waste deriving from the whole process represents not only a great economic loss but also an important ethical and environmental issue in terms of failure to recycle potentially reusable materials. New, clear strategies are needed to limit the amount of waste produced and, at the same time, promote its enhancement for further conversion and application to different industrial fields. This review gives an overview of the biological approaches used so far to exploit agri-food wastes and byproducts. The application of solid-state fermentation by different microorganisms (fungi, yeasts, bacteria) to produce several value-added products was analyzed, focusing on the exploitation of lactic acid bacteria as workhorses for the production of flavoring compounds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

17 pages, 2102 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Nutritional and Bioactive Components of Pomegranate Waste Used in Food and Cosmetic Applications: A Review

by Katharine Ko, Younas Dadmohammadi and Alireza Abbaspourrad

Foods 2021, 10(3), 657; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10030657 - 19 Mar 2021

Cited by 65 | Viewed by 7094

Abstract

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a fruit that is rich in bioactive compounds that has a biowaste (rind and seed) with the potential to be converted into value-added products in a wide variety of applications. Recent studies have demonstrated the potent antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of using pomegranate rind and seed as natural food additives, thus making researchers incorporate them into bioplastics and edible coatings for food packaging. Additionally, these components have shown great plasticizing effects on packaging materials while extending the shelf life of food through active packaging. Even within skin health applications, pomegranate seed oil and its bioactive compounds have been particularly effective in combating UV-induced stresses on animal skin and in-vitro models, where cells and microorganisms are separated from the whole organism. They have also aided in healing wounds and have shown major anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-bacterial properties. This review highlights all of the relevant and recent food and skin health applications found in the value-added conversion of pomegranate biowaste. The lack of research in particular areas and future outlook are also discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Upcycling of Agro-Food Chain By-Products to Obtain High-Added Value Foods)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

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

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (11 papers)

Editorial

Research

Review

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI