Bioconversion of Fruits and Vegetables
Wastes into Value-Added Products
Sarita Shrestha, Janak Raj Khatiwada, Hem Kanta Sharma,
and Wensheng Qin
Abstract
The increase in human population with the increase in
nutritional awareness for fruits and vegetables consumption is forcing toward higher production and supply of
fruits and vegetables. However, some sorts of food
processing steps are involved before human consumption
which is essential for preserving the properties of those
fruits and vegetables. During these processes and till
reaching the consumers, many fruits and vegetables
wastes are produced. Although the emphasis was given
to produce less waste and reuse the products as much as
possible, utilization of those wastes in bioprocessing and
production of different value-added products were less
emphasized. Thus, in this chapter, we describe the major
value-added bioproducts produced from fruits and vegetables wastes such as bioactive compounds, phenolic
compounds, enzymes, pigments, flavoring compounds
and aroma, dietary fibers, organic acids, bioenergy,
bioplastics, exopolysaccharides, single-cell protein, etc.
Keywords
Value-added products Á Bioconversion Á Bioactive
compounds Á Single-cell protein Á Bioenergy Á
Bioplastics Á Exopolysaccharides
1 Importance of Fruits, Vegetables,
and Their Waste
Human population of the world is continuously increasing
with a growth rate of 1.05% per year reaching a population of
over 7.7 billion and, by 2030, it is predicted to reach 8.5 billion
(United Nations 2019). With the limited natural resources, it is
difficult to supply food to the growing population. At the same
time, due to the rising human population, there is a high
demand for food production. Fruits and vegetables (FV) consumption is considerably increased with the increase in
awareness of FV and their health benefits to humans. FV are
fundamental for human nourishment as they contain significant amounts of minerals, vitamins, and fibers. The consumption of natural and high-quality FV is also increased for
healthier lifestyles (FAO 2016). Moreover, the consumption
of FV imparts in reducing the threat of stroke, some cancer,
and coronary heart disease. Health welfare of these kinds is
chiefly credited to natural micronutrients like vitamin C, carotenoids, tocopherols, polyphenolics, etc. The organic
micronutrients are available in colored (yellow and green)
vegetables and citrus fruits. Although a large population is
conscious of their health problems connected with nutrition,
they lack plentiful intake of FV and there is a need to find out
the alternate option to get these micronutrients (Schieber et al.
2001). At the same time, most of the population do not consume raw FV in many cases and these FV need to undergo
some kind of processing. Thus, during the processing of FV,
large masses of wastes are generated. Regrettably, FV depletion rates are high and depend upon the types of fruits. Fruits
from temperate zones produce less amount of waste compared
to fruits from tropical and subtropical zones (Schieber et al.
2001; Kodagoda and Marapana 2017).
It is anticipated that 1/3rd of all food harvested is lost or
dumped as waste in the world (FAO 2019) throughout the
food supply chain. Global scenarios of some FV wastes
production are shown in Table 1. Thus, there is a need to
decrease food loss or waste along with the production as well
S. Shrestha Á J. R. Khatiwada Á H. K. Sharma Á W. Qin (&)
Department of Biology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road,
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
e-mail: wqin@lakeheadu.ca
H. K. Sharma
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_9
145
Wastes into Value-Added Products
Sarita Shrestha, Janak Raj Khatiwada, Hem Kanta Sharma,
and Wensheng Qin
Abstract
The increase in human population with the increase in
nutritional awareness for fruits and vegetables consumption is forcing toward higher production and supply of
fruits and vegetables. However, some sorts of food
processing steps are involved before human consumption
which is essential for preserving the properties of those
fruits and vegetables. During these processes and till
reaching the consumers, many fruits and vegetables
wastes are produced. Although the emphasis was given
to produce less waste and reuse the products as much as
possible, utilization of those wastes in bioprocessing and
production of different value-added products were less
emphasized. Thus, in this chapter, we describe the major
value-added bioproducts produced from fruits and vegetables wastes such as bioactive compounds, phenolic
compounds, enzymes, pigments, flavoring compounds
and aroma, dietary fibers, organic acids, bioenergy,
bioplastics, exopolysaccharides, single-cell protein, etc.
Keywords
Value-added products Á Bioconversion Á Bioactive
compounds Á Single-cell protein Á Bioenergy Á
Bioplastics Á Exopolysaccharides
1 Importance of Fruits, Vegetables,
and Their Waste
Human population of the world is continuously increasing
with a growth rate of 1.05% per year reaching a population of
over 7.7 billion and, by 2030, it is predicted to reach 8.5 billion
(United Nations 2019). With the limited natural resources, it is
difficult to supply food to the growing population. At the same
time, due to the rising human population, there is a high
demand for food production. Fruits and vegetables (FV) consumption is considerably increased with the increase in
awareness of FV and their health benefits to humans. FV are
fundamental for human nourishment as they contain significant amounts of minerals, vitamins, and fibers. The consumption of natural and high-quality FV is also increased for
healthier lifestyles (FAO 2016). Moreover, the consumption
of FV imparts in reducing the threat of stroke, some cancer,
and coronary heart disease. Health welfare of these kinds is
chiefly credited to natural micronutrients like vitamin C, carotenoids, tocopherols, polyphenolics, etc. The organic
micronutrients are available in colored (yellow and green)
vegetables and citrus fruits. Although a large population is
conscious of their health problems connected with nutrition,
they lack plentiful intake of FV and there is a need to find out
the alternate option to get these micronutrients (Schieber et al.
2001). At the same time, most of the population do not consume raw FV in many cases and these FV need to undergo
some kind of processing. Thus, during the processing of FV,
large masses of wastes are generated. Regrettably, FV depletion rates are high and depend upon the types of fruits. Fruits
from temperate zones produce less amount of waste compared
to fruits from tropical and subtropical zones (Schieber et al.
2001; Kodagoda and Marapana 2017).
It is anticipated that 1/3rd of all food harvested is lost or
dumped as waste in the world (FAO 2019) throughout the
food supply chain. Global scenarios of some FV wastes
production are shown in Table 1. Thus, there is a need to
decrease food loss or waste along with the production as well
S. Shrestha Á J. R. Khatiwada Á H. K. Sharma Á W. Qin (&)
Department of Biology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road,
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
e-mail: wqin@lakeheadu.ca
H. K. Sharma
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_9
145