Trends and challenges of fruit by-products utilization: insights into safety, sensory, and benefits of the use for the development of innovative healthy food: a review

Abstract

A significant portion of the human diet is comprised of fruits, which are consumed globally either raw or after being processed. A huge amount of waste and by-products such as skins, seeds, cores, rags, rinds, pomace, etc. are being generated in our homes and agro-processing industries every day. According to previous statistics, nearly half of the fruits are lost or discarded during the entire processing chain. The concern arises when those wastes and by-products damage the environment and simultaneously cause economic losses. There is a lot of potential in these by-products for reuse in a variety of applications, including the isolation of valuable bioactive ingredients and their application in developing healthy and functional foods. The development of novel techniques for the transformation of these materials into marketable commodities may offer a workable solution to this waste issue while also promoting sustainable economic growth from the bio-economic viewpoint. This approach can manage waste as well as add value to enterprises. The goal of this study is twofold based on this scenario. The first is to present a brief overview of the most significant bioactive substances found in those by-products. The second is to review the current status of their valorization including the trends and techniques, safety assessments, sensory attributes, and challenges. Moreover, specific attention is drawn to the future perspective, and some solutions are discussed in this report.

Contribution of Extracellular Particles Isolated from Morus sp. (Mulberry) Fruit to Their Reported Protective Health Benefits: An In Vitro Study

“…There is increased interest in the potential for plant-derived EVs for the oral delivery of therapeutics, whether they be naturally occurring from edible plants or engineered to deliver specific drugs or compounds [ 36 ]. It is also worth considering that there could be sustainability benefits as well as health benefits since the extraction of PDVs from currently discarded parts of fruits after industrial food processing would mean less waste [ 37 , 38 ]. There is, therefore, a need to identify and understand the role of PDVs and how they contribute to the plethora of benefits previously reported in a range of different edible plants and traditional plant-derived medicinal products.…”