Valorisation of agro‐industrial by‐products, effluents and waste: concept, opportunities and the case of olive mill wastewaters

Abstract

Valorisation is a relatively new concept in the field of industrial residues management promoting the principle of sustainable development. One of the valorisation objectives regarding food processing by-products, waste and effluents is the recovery of fine chemicals and the production of precious metabolites via chemical and biotechnological processes. This paper identifies and discusses certain directions that seem to advance valorisation, as well as existing limitations that need to be overcome in the food processing sector. A valorisation strategy is exemplified for the wastewaters arising from the olive oil extraction process; the recovery of antioxidants by chemical methods and the fermentative production of enzymes of commercial interest have been reviewed.

Current options for the valorization of food manufacturing waste: a review

“…Waste valorization from olive industry processing concerns also the recovery of bioactive compounds from wastewaters. (Federici et al, 2009) evaluated various technologies for extraction of fine chemicals and enzyme production. The research suggested that these effluents could be regarded as a useful resource for the recovery of fine chemicals and for different biotechnological applications such as the production of important metabolites; however there are several key points of technical and scientific difficulty and technology costs are still too high.…”

High level of laccases production by Trametes trogii culture on olive mill wastewater‐based media, application in textile dye decolorization

“…1,7 -11 Valorisation of OMW by its use as a source of carbon and energy in culture medium for enzymes or high added value metabolites production is a new venture in OMW valorisation. 12 Laccases are oxidoreductases belonging to the multinuclear copper-containing oxidases; they catalyze the monoelectronic oxidation of substrates at the expense of molecular oxygen. Interest in these essentially 'eco-friendly' enzymes, which work with air and produce water as the only by-product, has grown significantly in recent years.…”

Coffee silverskin: A possible valuable cosmetic ingredient

“…Food processing by-products enable reduced waste and the recovery of extracts for the production of precious metabolites via chemical and biotechnological processes. After specific pre-treatments with physical and biological agents followed by tailored recovery procedures, they might provide valuable natural antioxidants, antimicrobial agents, vitamins, etc., along with macromolecules, such as cellulose, starch, lipids, proteins, plant enzymes and pigments, of enormous interest to pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries (Federici et al, 2009). In particular, agro-industrial by-products are good sources of phenolic compounds, and have also been explored as a source of natural antioxidants (Balasundram et al, 2006).…”