Valorization of Fruit and Vegetable Waste into Sustainable and Value-Added Materials

Maria Râpă, Raluca Nicoleta Darie-Niță () and George Coman
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Maria Râpă: Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Raluca Nicoleta Darie-Niță: Physical Chemistry of Polymers Department, Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania
George Coman: Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania

Waste, 2024, vol. 2, issue 3, 1-21

Abstract: This review aims to streamline the approach to assessing the most used valorization methods for fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) that are eco-friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable within a circular economy framework. Green processing technologies for the extraction of bioactive compounds from FVW, their applications, and the technico-economical assessment of FVW’ biorefinery to support circular economy are highlighted. Important value-added products generated by FVW include bioactive compounds, pectin, protein isolates, such as soy, natural pigments such as anthocyanins, quinones, carotenoids, betalains, and chlorophyll. At this time, the prospects of using FVW have increased in the food supplements, bioactive and edible food packaging, agriculture, energy, and water purification fields. The findings report that proper management of FVW not only minimizes their addition to landfills in the absence of composting, but also promotes the efficient utilization of resources for the development of innovative materials with a wide range of beneficial applications. Implementing the possible solutions described in this paper would not only reduce environmental impact, but also open up new economic opportunities through the valorization of FVW.

Keywords: fruit waste; vegetable waste; valuable molecules; extraction technology; applications; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q16 Q18 Q2 Q20 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q28 Q3 Q31 Q38 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jwaste:v:2:y:2024:i:3:p:15-278:d:1444393

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