Enzyme technology in the conversion of food processing wastes into valuable products

MELNICHUK, NATASHA; LACAVA, FRANCO; ROMANINI, DIANA; MEINI, MARÍA-ROCÍO

Value-Addition in Agri-Food Industry Waste Through Enzyme Technology

Elsevier B.V.

Año: 2023; p. 1 - 16

Bioeconomy stands for the use renewable biological resources from land and sea – such as crops, forest, fish, animals, and microorganisms – to produce food, materials and energy. The shift from fossil-based economy to bioeconomy requires a more efficient utilization of the biomass generated from agricultural activity to retrieve value added products.Value addition can take place at any of the following stages in the food supply chain: sourcing of raw materials, production, processing and packaging, storage, distribution, and redistribution to consumers. The food processing stage is at the focus of bio-based valorization strategies, which have made use of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast and fungi and their enzymes, since the beginnings of the food elaboration history. The enzymatic action usually leads to an improvement of nutritional and organoleptic properties, offering new products with additional economic value.Of particular interest are those products arising from wastes in the food supply chain. Food waste generated from processing steps includes organic materials, which contain carbon, nitrogen, and lipids in various forms, including starch, lignocellulose, proteins, and fat or oil. Consequently, enzymatic hydrolysis by carbohydrate degrading enzymes (α-amylases, glucoamylases, cellulases), proteases and lipases yields significant amounts of glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids that can be subsequently used for food ingredients elaboration or biofuel production. In addition, bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols can be recovered from the wasted material.The present chapter describes the recent advancement in enzyme technology for the addition of value in food industries with special focus on bioprocessing of food wastes.