Project: PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2016-0973

Title: New integrated approach for food waste valorization

Acronim: INTVALWASTE

Abstract:

Large amounts of waste are generated annually by the food industry, their efficient management and valorisation representing one of the main objectives of EU actions against food waste and towards sustainable development.

Citrus is one of the most important fruit crops in the world. About 50–60 % w/w of the processed citrus fruits become waste which if not further processed, can give rise to serious environmental pollution. CW contains a wide range of bioactive compounds, such as essential oils, carotenoids, fibre, flavonoids, which have many applications in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.

Despite the existing studies on exploitation of bioactive molecules from food wastes, there is still a struggle and need in finding the most efficient methods that could also be economically viable. In this context, the project aims the development of a procedure for the sequential recovery of bioactive compounds from CW, towards achieving the “zero-waste” desiderate. The envisaged bioactive compounds to be recovered from CW, are essential oils (EO), antioxidant compounds (phenolics, flavonoids) and dietary fibres.

The performance of the proposed procedure will be assessed (i.e. yield, possibility to be scaled-up) as well as the functionality and bioactivities of recovered biomolecules (i.e. antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial activity, emulsifying properties) using modern analytical techniques.

Main objective: The development of an integrated procedure for the recovery of bioactive compounds from citrus waste

Envisaged results: Assessment of the influence of extraction techniques on the chemical composition of citrus peels. 

Selection of the best working parameters for the design of integrated multi-step system for citrus waste bioactive compounds recovery.