Perspective Chapter: Bioconversion of Agricultural and Food Wastes to Vinegar

Abstract

Agricultural residues and fruit/food wastes are a curse to the environment but this can also play an important role in meeting the growing needs for energy, value-added chemicals, and food security problems. Vinegar is an acidic liquid whose major component is acetic acid and consists of different organic acids and bioactive compounds. Vinegar is a substance produced by the acetic acid bacteria Acetobacter and Gluconobacter that has a 4% acetic acid content. For the efficient biological production of acetic acid, a variety of renewable substrates are used, including agro and food, dairy, and kitchen wastes. This reduces waste and lowers environmental pollution. There are different types of traditional vinegar available all over the world and have many applications. Vinegar can be made either naturally, through alcoholic and then acetic fermentation, or artificially, in laboratories. This chapter emphasizes the production and biotransformation of agricultural and fruit wastes into vinegar and the genetic manipulations done on microorganisms to utilize a wide range of substrates and achieve maximum product titer.

From Waste to Plate: Exploring the Impact of Food Waste Valorisation on Achieving Zero Hunger

“…Potential applications include increasing crop productivity by enhancing the solubility and mobility of nutrients [83], and the development of bio-preservatives and active packaging for food safety enhancement due to their effective antimicrobial properties [84,85]. Fed-batch fermentation was equally employed to produce vinegar from discarded onion juice by microbial fermentation using Acetobacter tropicalis KFCC 11476P [86]. Fermentation techniques, particularly, solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a widely researched and effective procedure for the bioconversion of agro-industrial food waste, which produces inexpensive enzymes, organic acids, vitamins, fermented feeds and aroma compounds [87,88].…”

“…In addition, SSF is an efficient method for degrading antinutritional factors and insoluble macromolecules, improving nutrient utilisation and uptake [91]. Li et al [86] investigated the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida utilis, and Yarrowia lipolytica in SSF for the bioconversion of food waste obtained from a canteen to prepare fermented feed destined for crayfish farming. The study highlighted that replacing the basal diet with 30% of the food waste-derived fermented feed is suitable for crayfish growth [87].…”

Use of biotechnology to produce alcoholic and acetic fermentation: A review

“…The production and biotransformation of agricultural and fruit wastes into vinegar and the genetic manipulations done on microorganisms to utilize a wide range of substrates and achieve maximum product titer. Acetic fermentation Saha et al (2023) The bioconversion of pineapple waste extract into vinegar with using various sugar concentrations and its antioxidant activity…”

Bioconversion Progresses of Organic Solid Waste

“…Organic solid waste (OSW) can be categorized into four groups: agricultural waste (including straw and grass clippings), municipal solid waste, such as food and kitchen waste, industrial waste (comprising polymers and bioplastics), and hazardous waste, including active sludge [1]. Annually, an estimated 11.2 billion tons of solid waste are produced worldwide [2], with China generating 235.117 million tons of organic solid waste in 2020 alone [3].…”