The global food security challenge is to sustainably feed a projected 9.8 billion people by 2050(Searchinger et al., 2014. If consumption trends continue as projected, the world will need to increase food production by more than 50 % to feed nearly 10 billion people adequately in 2050, besides lowering the environmental footprint in terms of carbon emission and energy use (Searchinger et al., 2014). Reducing food waste and loss is considered one of the key contributors to this balancing act as one-third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption (~1.3 billion tons) ends up as waste in the food supply chain (Gustavsson et al., 2011). For fruits and vegetables, these food losses can even exceed 50 % in some cases (Gustavsson et al., 2011). Globally, food waste causes ~$940 billion per year in economic losses (€143 billion for Europe) and represent a waste of resources used in production such as land, water and energy, and contributes to unnecessary CO2 emissions. Effective valorisation of food waste streams will promote full crop use and close the cycle of our food production chain. Worldwide, over 40 % of fruit and vegetables produced end up as waste along the supply chain (FAO, 2014; Too Good To Go, 2022). Vegetable waste includes vegetables that do not meet the quality standards for retail of fresh products or are wasted because of over-production. It is noted that also part of the vegetable waste is inedible and therefore referred to as unavoidable waste (De Laurentiis, Corrado, & Sala, 2018). Much of the vegetable waste produced occurs at or between farm and factory. Hence, this collectable material represents a potentially valuable source of food ingredients.Consumers have a growing demand for high quality foods that are produced more sustainably. Furthermore, consumers prefer more natural products and the food industry is re-directing its sourcing policy towards clean-labelling and using only minimally-processed food additives. Important food ingredients at the forefront of these pivotal changes relate to vegetable products such as onion, carrot, tomato, pepper, and asparagus, which are used in a variety of foodstuffs such as soups, sauces and ready-to-eat meals. Conventional food ingredients no longer meet the newly devised criteria for both sustainability and quality. It is therefore proposed to produce high quality and fully natural food ingredients, in the form of dried products, from high-value vegetable waste. Dried vegetable products have the advantage of extended shelf life and enable easy application in instant food products. To obtain these high-quality dried products, an innovative processing strategy is designed. White asparagus has been identified as the ideal model crop in this project as the asparagus 'artificial' flavourings. Therefore, the drying process of asparagus, as well as other vegetables, needs to be reconsidered.
Conventional vegetable drying techniquesVegetable drying is common practice for preservation purposes and enhances more efficient transportation. Conventi...
