Food waste is a common global threat to the environment, agriculture, and society. In the present study, we used 30% food waste, mixed with 70% bio-fertilizers, and evaluated their ability to affect the growth of Chinese cabbage. The experiment was conducted using different concentrations of food waste to investigate their effect on Chinese cabbage growth, chlorophyll content, and mineral content. Leaf length, root length, and fresh and dry weight were significantly increased in plants treated with control fertilizer (CF) and fertilizer mixed with food waste (MF). However, high concentrations of food waste decreased the growth and biomass of Chinese cabbage due to salt content. Furthermore, higher chlorophyll content, transpiration efficiency, and photosynthetic rate were observed in CF- and MF-treated plants, while higher chlorophyll fluorescence was observed in the MF × 2 and MF × 6 treatments. Inductively coupled plasm mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) results showed an increase in potassium (K), calcium (Ca), phosphorous (P), and magnesium (Mg) contents in the MF and MF × 2 treatments, while higher sodium (Na) content was observed in the MF × 4 and MF × 6 treatments due to the high salt content found in food waste. The analysis of abscisic acid (ABA) showed that increasing amounts of food waste increase the endogenous ABA content, compromising the survival of plants. In conclusion, optimal amounts of food waste—up to MF and MF × 2—increase plant growth and provide an ecofriendly approach to be employed in the agriculture production system.

Many industrialized areas of the world demand for the nutraceuticals due to rapidly growing health risks linked with higher consumption of processed foods. Tateishi Kazu vegetable soup or miracle soup is widely consumed around the world because of its nutraceutical properties. In the current research, the Tateishi Kazu vegetable soup was made from both organic and nonorganic sources, such as carrot, burdock root, shiitake mushroom, daikon radish, and radish leaves. We analyzed colour, antioxidant properties, cell viability, and mineral and free amino acid contents of both soups. The L ∗ a ∗ b and pH values revealed no drastic changes in the colour of the organic soup stored for 96 hours. The essential amino acids were present in higher amounts in an organic soup compared to the nonorganic soup. Similarly, the total mineral contents of the organic soup were higher than the nonorganic soup; however, potassium was the major mineral in both soups. Higher phenolic contents with elevated 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were noticed in organic soup. Moreover, both soups showed considerable reduction in cell viability of HepG2 cells tested through the MTT assay. From the present study, we concluded that the organic Tateishi Kazu vegetable soup can be of great importance to food industry due to the presence of viable nutrients and pharmacological properties.